Sand and stuff

What a weekend! We've had great fun.

I reflected on our 'lesson' schedule for the past week and we only missed one lesson which is darn good for me even if I do say so myself. I struggle to turn down invitations and life is a bit of a whirl these days - it's great. In my defence I can say that the children have learned lots of things that weren't on the lesson plan - Hermione had her first couple of games of pool thanks to as friend, learned how to use a special crafty card cutting machine, researched a new line for her shop (more on that below), learned how to switch on the oven and set it to the correct temperature and loads more stuff - sometimes there is so much to be learned from 'just living'.

On Saturday we had a lesson in ingenuity and baked a Date and Walnut Loaf with no dates or walnuts. I really should check that I have the ingredients before we begin. It turned out to be more of a giant fig roll. Anyway, on the afternoon we headed off to meet with a group of ladies who regularly get together to show their crafts and share tips and ideas. When we were invited I feared that I wouldn't be able to make it as I thought the children would perhaps be disruptive. Thankfully the lady organising it gave me lots of reassurance so we all headed along with our Date and Walnut Free Date and Walnut Loaf.

We all had a fabulous afternoon. I was absolutely blown away by the talent and generosity of the ladies there. They were so willing to share their skills, time and materials. They were hugely supportive of Hermione and her business venture. They, like me could really see the value of encouraging children into crafts. I am disappointed that the next gathering will be on a date that I am unable to go but nana is going to go along still and learn how to make fabric bags with a fluffy chenille effect.


Today we headed into town quite early and sat on the breezy terrace of a riverside cafe watching the seagulls swooping and the buskers on the bridge. Craig and I commented on how it has been so long since we have had lazy Sunday brunches in town - not since two became three, then four. So good to be able to do these things again and for the children to truly enjoy it as opposed to being reluctantly dragged along.


We were sitting on what looks like a ledge overhanging the river, to the left of the bridge with a blue canopy. You can just make out the shiny steel tables and chairs.

Later we went to the beach to make and break sandcastles - somewhere warm, surrounded by palms and deckchairs - the indoor beach has finally arrived at our local shopping centre! I can see us getting good use out of it.

Later we continued to prepare the ground for our greenhouse. I have flag stones now and have even been promised some special shelving on Freecycle. It's all coming together nicely.

Hermione has decided that the next product she is going to introduce to her shop is children's aprons. She made the first one today and I think she has done exceptionally well. This is probably the trickiest sewing machine project she has undertaken so far and she has done well. I'm going to help her to upload a picture into her shop tomorrow and at a pound each I expect they will fly out. She is doing really well with her shop. She is exceptionally pleased that it is going well 'despite the recession' - made me chuckle. She's thinking of buying a small weaving loom with the money she has made so that she can make woven coasters, place mats and other things.

A friend gave me some fabulous hand spun wool the other day. I don't do much crocheting these days - and certainly not garments - but I feel really inspired by this wool. I like how it's thickness keeps changing - it makes me think of how it was made and wonder about the person who made it. It's nice when things aren't artificially perfect. I'm making a waistcoat for Miles. It's going to be a chunky retro type made from squares.

Well, we've lots to look forward to this week, but unfortunately it's going to be a very tough week for Craig. He so needs a break from all the work crap and I only wish I had a magic wand. Hey ho. On top of everything else he must celebrate another year of growing old disgracefully this week. Never mind, worse things have happened.