The New Year

We welcomed in the new year with a new game. Talisman.  Such an excellent game that we missed the moment of midnight, as it was so engrossing!

New Years Day saw us without any transport, as the car tax for the big car had run out, Stuart's Mazda is still sat on the driveway looking very sorry for itself, and the courtesy car is too small for us all to fit in!  So we walked into town to go to the cinema to see "Puss in Boots".  Excellent film, and great to get out of the house and some exercise.  On our way home the heavens opened, we did all have coats, but it wasn't enough to protect us.  Fortunately the weather was mild, so it wasn't too much of a problem, in fact Luke and Ethan embraced their wetness and just had loads of fun!

I can't vouch for anyone else, but my plans for 2012 revolve around being organised.  This does not come naturally to me, and I seem to be stumbling at the first step (eg people running out of clothes as had run out of washing powder, and the shop that was in walking distance only sold bio, which was no good, as some of us have sensitive skin.)  But I am trying, and I am hoping this will extend to the allotment too, with me aiming to get down there at least once a week (yes, I have been "that" bad at getting down there recently, probably pushing a couple of months since my last visit!!)  My organisational skills will have an extra test from tomorrow, as the courtesy car goes back, so Stuart will need the Chrysler for work, leaving me carless for the foreseeable future.  Haven't quite sussed doing a weekly shop for 7 of us on foot yet, but I'm sure there is a way, failing that it will be having to face the shops on a weekend with the rest of the masses!!

Other news, our beloved Betty (chicken) is very poorly.  Being syringe fed, and very weak.  I guess only time will tell, but we are trying our best for her.  And Hetty seems very lost in the backgarden all by herself.  We have had the chickens three years today. 

Hoping everyone is getting into the swing of the new year now.

An update

Well, once again life is ridiculously busy!

We had a lovely holiday down in Cornwall with great weather, and meeting up with Jo and company who were in the same area at the same time! We spent evenings going for coastal walks, or playing skittles at a local skittle alley. Days were on the beaches, my all time favourite being Kynance Cove. A couple of daytrips to either Penzance (to a wonderful fairtrade clothes shop) and St Ives, were thrown in for good measure! This was weeks ago now, and I still haven't finished unpacking!

Luke had a day back home and then was off to Brecon with his school for a 5 day adventure holiday which included raft building, kayaking, rock climbing, hiking, trapeze and many more things, all right up Luke's street!

Luke came back from Brecon, and then Alec went off on his first Beavers sleepover. He was so excited by it all, and had a lovely time. He was, apparently, completely oblivious to waking up many Beaver Scouts and leaders by screaming in the night!

Whilst he was at the sleepover we went to get a drumkit for Luke. It is a lovely Pearl VBX kit in claret. It is now established in his bedroom, and we have been rather impressed with his drumming ability. His grade one exam is on Thursday, and he is feeling pretty confident! We have had to get pads for the kit though after neighbours 4 doors away could hear him playing!

In all this swealtering heat I have been down the allotment trying to harvest things as quickly as I can. Everything is ripening at such a rate of knots! Then it has been trying to preserve the harvest. We have got strawberries by the bucket-load, blackcurrants, raspberries, redcurrants, broad beans, onions and new potatoes all ready at the moment. Broad beans are eaten; onions are drying; new potatoes are dug up as and when needed; blackcurrants are now made into sorbet; redcurrants are still on the plant because I have no idea what to do with them; raspberries are in the freezer awaiting time to do something with them; and strawberries... well we've had strawberry and orange ice lollies, strawberry milkshakes, strawberries and cream, 8 jars of strawberry jam, given some away, paid people with strawberries, and there's plenty more still ripening!

A neighbour of mine has a sister who works at M and S, and has swatches of material for the Per Una clothes sent to her. These are now getting forwarded to me, and they are just the right size to make clothes for Sophie. I just have to find the time! Also, as I obviously have so much spare time (ha ha!) I have decided to start trying to sell tie-dyed clothes. I am currently collecting plain clothing to experiment with, then Stuart is going to do a website for me! I will keep you updated.

Amongst all this I think Ethan has been feeling a little neglected, so I am trying to spend a bit more time with him too.

A wonderful weekend

We have just had the most fabulous weekend meeting up with many like-minded families in the Forest of Dean.

It was rather surreal meeting people that I had chatted too online, but never seen, or had read blogs and seen pictures of them, but to see them in real life was strange, like meeting a famous person. Anyhow, after introductions were made, and everyone was settled in we had one amazing weekend. From rock walls, zip wires (for young and old alike), walks through wonderful woods, and some redwood trees too (how fantastic were they!), to campfires, barbeques, pasta feasts, to tie-dyeing, henna tattoing, weaving, and lots of talking and playing by everyone.



To see so many people who do things like we do was great, I don't think anybody had the same sling, and believe me, there were many slings on show! Every woman was breastfeeding at least one child, I don't think we managed it all at the same time though! It was like a little haven, that nobody wanted to leave. Whilst driving home, and seeing the "real world" I felt sad, that our weekend was over, and that we had to return to the consumerist, media driven world, if only everyday life was like that weekend, where everyone has respect for their children and the world they live in. Thank you to you all for some wonderful memories.