crafty swaps

A few months back, when it was still cold and grey outside, I spied this sweeeeeeet little crocheted flower garland. Swoon! It had me dreaming of Spring when the weather was still quite frightful. Sadly, I don't know how to crochet (other than a simple chain stitch). Fortunately for me, my friend Kate does. And very well! So I proposed a swap. Here's what I got:

That's a heart in the background.

The orange flower makes me think of my home state's flower - the orange blossom.

But my absolute favourite is the rainbow! Kate had remembered that I had once said I heart all things rainbow-ish, and she searched out a pattern just so she could include one in this garland. I am totally head over heels in love with this garland, and it has been hanging across our back door ever since it arrived.

I was a bit stumped as to what to make Kate in return. She had asked for something 'housey'. I know how important food and mealtimes are in her family, and I considered making a table runner and napkins.  Union Jack bunting? Luckily, she had a request. A peg bag. I had to laugh, because a peg bag has been on my own list for about two years, but for one reason or another I have never made a start on one. To be honest, I've been a little daunted for some unknown reason. But now I had to just get on with it. 

I trawled through Flickr. I Googled. I searched Cath Kidston's site. Finally, I found this tutorial. Just kitsch enough to be cool. And for modern homemakers like Kate and me, just ironic enough to inject joy into the task of pegging out of wet washing. (I know that pegging out washing is enjoying something of a revival in America. Here in England, where tumble driers are less common, smaller and inefficient compared to their Yankee cousins, hanging out the laundry is, for most homemakers, a necessary task. And it's often a thankless one, thanks to the fickle nature of the weather here. I can't count the times I've hung the washing in bright sunshine, only to look out the window half an hour later to see rain re-dampening everything!)

So here's what I made:

I altered the pattern slightly in that I lined the bag with muslin. I think she's quite cute. Needless to say, I still haven't made myself one.

Swaps rule.

this moment: mummy's helper

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week a couple of weeks ago. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

inspired by amanda soule

thank you

Oooh! That was the most comments any of my blog posts has ever received! Thank you, lovely readers, for taking the time to read and respond with your ideas about what I should do with the dresser. (And thank you for forgiving all the typos in my last post...proofreading becomes tricky when the little ones wake from naptime.)

I think you were all right - painting the dresser would be a shame. So I've taken your advice and I've left it with the woodgrain showing. Today I began the intricate and time-consuming task of sanding the dark stain out of all the decorative grooves and the door panels. I'm considering investing in a little hobby sander - I've just about removed all my fingerprints trying to get into the tiny corners! (Hmmm. Maybe a bank job could be on the cards now.) At any rate, there is still a fair bit of work needed to chase away all traces of that dark woodstain and finish the beeswaxing. But it can wait.

I also made a decision to put the dresser in the living room; our flooring, bookcases and side tables are oak veneered, so the dresser complements them very nicely. Also, it is ever-so-slightly too wide for the kitchen space in which I intended it to live. I am undecided on what to do with the top half of the dresser. It was intended to display plates, and so only has very shallow shelves. For now it is safe and dry in our coal shed.

We have gained some much-needed storage in the living room. I was able to unpack a box that has been sealed for two and a half years (since we moved to America) - our board games! And the girls' puzzles, wooden train track, Lincoln Logs and Matchbox car collection are now all neatly housed in an easy-to-access but hidden-from-view place.

I am in love.

these hands can

This morning, my hands ache, my triceps ache, my shoulders ache and those little muscles between the backs of my ribs - are they called intercostals? - well, whatever they're called, they ache, too. Yesterday, I spent about four hours working on this beauty.

This gorgeous Welsh dresser is the most fabulous thing of many fabulous things I've received from fellow Freecyclers. Freecycle? If you're not already a member, check it out! There are local groups all over the place, and once you've joined you can offer or ask for all kinds of things. I've given away things like baby stuff, sporting equipment, empty jars and bottles and a portable CD player; I've received a tent, raspberry canes, fabric remnants and this dresser. The aim of Freecycle is to keep goods from ending up in our ever-growing mountain of rubbish. I've even seen cars on offer!

Anyway, so I picked up this dresser on Tuesday. I couldn't believe my eyes! I was just hoping for something with a few shelves I could use for extra storage...I never imagined the guy would open his garage to reveal a fifty year old solidly-built oak dresser with pretty detailing. I stupidly asked if he was sure he wanted to give it away! Luckily for me, he did.

So yesterday I set to work on bringing it back to life. But before I started, I tucked into one of these babies:

Okay. Truth be told, I might have eaten three of these gooey, pillowy cinnamon rolls. My lovely friend who keeps this blog sent me the recipe and it is the bomb (by the way. check out Kate's blog - she's a fabulous cook.). I did find the caramel a little salty, so if you make them, reduce the salt to half a teaspoon.

After I recovered from my self-induced sugar coma, I set to work. Out came the power tools. Oh yes. I love my power sander. Two things: power tools are great for perfectly flat pieces of wood, but when it comes to old stuff, nothing beats good old glasspaper and a whole lot of elbow grease; secondly, when you're sanding fifty years of woodstain, wax, grime and dust off of secondhand furniture, wear a face mask. I didn't, and I won't tell you how I know, but I inhaled a lot of dust.

It was round about at this point in the sanding when the postman knocked with a sweet little parcel sent by my friend Kate of the afore-mentioned food blog. Like everything she does, it was wrapped with such care. What a joy in my day to recieve a package wrapped in brown paper and string! Inside was this book, one of many which was specially printed and distributed throughout the UK in celebration of World Book Night. I was lucky enough to also be given a copy of this book by another Bood Giver - we're reading that one for Book Club this month. What a great initiative to get people reading again.

After opening my parcel (and possibly having another sneaky cinnamon bun), I got back to work. Sanding the top of the dresser was hard work. It probably took two hours. But, oh, how I was rewarded!

It came up so beautifully. The woodgrain just sings. I can't wait to massage a few coats of beeswax polish into it. I'm in a quandry now, though. I had planned to paint the dresser and the hutch (which I did not have time to make a start on yesterday), possibly this colour. But the oak is so pretty I am now wondering if I should just wax the whole thing and leave it. What do you think?

As an aside, I spent an hour playing with fabric scraps yesterday morning while the little ones built dens. I used the tiniest scraps of fabric left over from a log cabin cushion cover I'm working on to create a secret something that may find its way into a package for my lovely 4 Seasons Exchange partner. I may not send it, because it's not really Spring colours, but just in case I do, I won't give too much away here now. Rosie sure liked it.

Well, that's it for this novel of a blog post. I'll share more pictures as I progress on the dresser. Do give me your opinion on whether I should paint it or simply wax it.

And then go have a look at what's going on in other folks' creative spaces at kootoyou.

up against the wall

Before we moved into this house last November, I had visions of giving every wall a fresh coat of paint...something not too far off white to add light and space and just make everything feel clean. I envisioned a blank canvas - having jettisoned so many of our possessions in our emigration attempt two years ago, it felt like an opportunity to start afresh with a new palette. But then the realities of moving house with little ones set in. I managed to paint one whole room and half of another room before we moved in. Now, we are waiting for warmer weather so that we can leave doors and windows open to allow paint fumes to dissipate.

There was one project I did want to get done soon, though. Something fairly small, managable and achievable (for achievable, read: finishable). Something that would make an immediate impact and would (hopefully) create a sense of fun for us and for anyone who walks through the front door.

A chalkboard wall! Maybe it's the teacher in me (truth be told, I'd hate to have to use one every day in the classroom - I can still remember that horrible, teeth-rattling sound of chalk squeaking on board, the dry, dusty feeling chalk leaves on your fingers), but I do love chalkboards. Perhaps it's the inversion of colour - we are used to black ink on white paper. It is surprising and exciting to see stark white lines and swathes of colour explode out of the black surface.

The scale of the writing surface is exciting, too. To have a whole wall upon which to make our mark is inspiring and freeing - think of the spontaneity of graffiti on billboards. The orientation of the chalkboard is just right for a small person who is just beginning to hone her fine motor skills...we aren't forced to hunch over a little rectangle of flimsy paper. We can grasp the chalk with our whole hand and make marks by moving our whole arm. Writing and drawing can be a whole body activity - jumping and kneeling and even laying down can extend the range of our marks...what fun!

There's space for several contributors to collaborate and inspire and weave a story together.

A hot air balloon floating...

...over a sea full of whales and strange fish.

An American flag waving next to the George Cross (England's flag).

You can even surprise and entertain your parents, who didn't know you had taught yourself how to write.

Yes, we are enjoying this chalkboard wall.



in honour of love

happy holidays

Hope your holidays have been as joyful as ours! We're continuing our celebrations by traveling to see family tomorrow, but I'll be back in the new year to share our little handmade Christmas with you. And to introduce you to the newest member of our family. A baby, yes. But one of the four-legged variety. Until then, wishing you a peaceful and joyful New Year!

it's been a while

...but we are beginning to feel settled in our new home. And not a moment too soon! With the holidays looming (in the nicest possible way, of course) and a new little one (more on that later) joining our family in the new year, we've hardly stopped for breath. The house is still full of unopened packing boxes, but I've managed to create a little calm in one half of the living room. The Christmas tree is twinkling, there is snow on the ground, and my sewing machine is seeing more action than the vacuum...so all is good in our little house.

moving house

We are moving. We have been in the process of moving for a week or so now, and we will hit a crescendo of motion on Friday, when we actually obtain a moving van. I thought the two-week overlap we will have had between getting the keys to our new house and surrendering the keys to our rented house would give us plenty of time to paint, make some changes to the layout of the kitchen cupboards, install a dishwasher and new oven, and pack in an orderly fashion. Boy was I wrong. This has been the busiest fortnight we've had in a long time: Martinmas Lantern Walk, Advent Fair, Eva's birthday and birthday party, Advent Spiral Walk....

So far I have painted half of one room. And I have packed about four boxes. But it will happen. We will be in our new home by the end of the weekend. By the end of the weekend, we will be Home.

simplification: before and after

Sometimes I look around my house and want to scream. It feels so cluttered and full of stuff. On the whole, I have given in to having several small children and their things filling every space, but my inner Monica longs for a streamlined, easy-on-the-eye home. I am forever looking for ways to re-organise, smarten our storage solutions and make it easier for the children to take responsibility for their own belongings. I try very hard to resist the urge to do all the tidying myself - I want my kids to grow up knowing how to pull their own weight and to appreciate the effort it takes to create a comfortable home.

I have a sense of needing to find balance. I am sure that a clean, well-ordered home is conducive to family harmony...most people feel more relaxed in an ordered environment, I think. And I also think it is useful and healthy for children to have little chores for which they are responsible. But equally, I do not want the kids to feel like lodgers in their own home. I want them to feel safe enough and relaxed enough to truly inhabit their spaces. I love the visual cosiness of watching them play on the thick wool rug in the middle of the living room floor (especially when said rug is freshly-vacuumed!).

I have found that one way to encourage the children to care for their things and to put them away when they have finished with them is to scale down on the number of things at their disposal. For instance, my eldest - Jake - has amassed an enviable collection of Brio wooden railway track, trains and accessories over the years. And when the huge tub of train track was accessible, more often than not I would find every single piece strewn about with nary a usable line for the trains to travel along. The little ones would begin pulling out track and quickly became so overwhelmed that they couldn't assemble it into any shape. This led to frustration for them and frustration for me that the wooden pieces were now being scatttered about like confetti. I finally realised that they could play quite happily with just a modest selection of track, four or five trains and one or two buildings; now, that is all the Brio you will find in my living room, in one small, easy-for-even-the-smallest-person-to-carry-around basket.

Books have become the recent bane of my life (what an odd thing for an English teacher to say!). The girls must own 200 books - baby board books, pop-up books, picture books, noisy books, story books, counting books, puppet books. Honestly, these kids do not need any more books! And we do read a lot. But every day I was finding myself picking up the books, trying to re-organise the books on the shelf, fixing the back of the bookcase that had been pushed off the frame by little hands struggling to fit so many books onto each shelf. There was also the problem of losing library books - I can't tell you how many times I have torn the house up looking for a library book, or paid a fine for a book I didn't even realise we had because it had made its way onto one bookshelf or another. And then, I looked at the small basket of Brio, and it dawned on me.

As luck would have it, it was market day in town, and I happened on a very sweet wooden wine box. I expected the stall-holder to say £10 when I asked what he wanted for it, but to my delighted surprise, he was only asking for £2. I didn't hesitate!

When we got home, whilst the little ones had their afternoon nap, I set to work on that those bookcases. I chose about 10 books that reflect the season and put them in our new 'book box' in the living room. The rest of the books went upstairs, to 'rest'. I did take the opportunity to sort through them, and I'm pleased to be taking a large stack of books we have outgrown to work to give to a colleague who had a surprise baby earlier this year.

The girls are loving the new book box, and are using it exactly the way I'd hoped they would. They can now see the covers and can easily choose a story to snuggle up with. We all know how much kids like to hear the same story over and over again, finding comfort in some small aspect of life they can predict, and having such a limited collection of books at the ready seems to feel 'safe' for them. And guess what? I haven't had to pick up one book since we've started using the book box!

Our current selection includes the following titles (I plan to change the selection out every month):
It's Heaven Having You by Giles Andreae and Vanessa Cabban
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
Cookie Monster's Book of Seasons
Paddington by Michael Bond
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter
The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle by Beatrix Potter
Woody, Hazel and Little Pip by Elsa Beskow
The Very Noisy Night by Diana Hendry
On the Way to Kindergarten by Virginia Kroll
The Booktime Book of Fantastic First Poems edited by June Crebbin
plus Imogen's birthday book, made by her teachers and classmates

rosehip garlands

If you have access to rosehips, now is a good time to start collecting them. We have had a touch of frost on one or two mornings this last week, so the hips are looking rosy and bright and are ever so slightly softening to the touch.

Rosehips are packed with vitamin C, and many people use them to make a syrup that can be drunk throughout the winter to help ward off illness. They are also believed to be helpful in relieving pain associated with arthritis. Rosehip seed oil has a high percentage of essential fatty acids, and is therefore thought to be very beneficial in keeping hair and skin looking healthy. We applied the oil to the scarring above Esme's eye when she had shingles as a baby. I'm not really sure if it helped reduce the appearance of the scars, but the act of massaging it gently into her skin certainly helped me to feel that I was doing something soothing and loving for my baby girl.

Eva and I put our first rosehip harvest to work as part of the seasonal decoration in our home - we strung them onto red thread and made cheerful, rosy garlands. I'm hoping they will dry as they hang across doorways and in our windows, and we plan to string them around the Christmas tree later this winter.

I so enjoyed a quiet couple of hours with my biggest girl, carefully piercing each hip with a large sewing needle and chatting about the tasks we had completed earlier at our school's workday. We both managed to prick our fingers with these huge needles, but it was something to be laughed at, together.

How very blessed I felt yesterday to have a daughter.

First, we snipped the hips from their stems.

I knotted the end of the thread, then triple-knotted it again about two inches further in. This left a 'circle' of knotted thread from which the finished garland could be hung. I then pierced the first hip and brought the needle around and back through once more (and did the same with the last hip on each string), so that the first and last hip acted like anchors.

Eva practised her counting skills...

...and showed me just how happy she was!