Still Raising The Next Generation: Lazy Days, Face Cloths and Ping

Ah, the joys of lazy summer days. I love it when the sun shines, and although there's still lots to be done, the pace seems to slow down, even if only a little.

I've always had quite an aversion to games but we're really enjoying Monopoly Deal and Pass the Pigs round here at the moment.

Do you remember our early June arrivals? Those tiny bundles of fluff that fit in the palm of my hand. Well, the fluff's all gone, in the space of two months, to be replaced with some beautiful feathers. Just look at the gorgeous beetle blues and greens!

The beautiful wing above belongs to Ping, the ugly duckling. Oh, I really shoudn't call him that, he's not ugly, he's just different. Quite a size now; most likely nigh on fully grown in just two months.

Enjoying a snuggle with Hermione. He likes to bury his beak in your coat. All of his fluff has gone; he's fully feathered save for the tuft you can see on the top of his head. I can only think he's crossed with a Bali somewhere along the line.

It's almost impossible to tell the ducklings from the ducks now when they all descend at treat time. They certainly don't hold back!

Last year a friend made me some facecloths from recycled cotton for Christmas. I love them, but have rarely used them because I'ma bit like that with gifts. Gifts are special and I never want to wear them out.

Well, I happened to stumble across some recycled cotton and have started to crochet some for every day use. I like them; they fulfill my need to leave my face pink and ever so tingly. I figure that's just how it is when you grew up in an age where products containing not so finely ground peach stones was cutting edge beauty. There's probably a whole generation out there who have faces 'polished' to within an inch of their lives.

I've also learned how to crochet flowers and have wiled away a fair time happily hooking away, creating flowers to decorate cushions. I'm now trying to master crochet leaves so I can make little posies.

Oh the joys! I love spending time with like minded mamas learning how to do these things, and being able to be with the children in a semi available state, on hand but happily hooking. When we're home and the children are pottering and I'm doing household chores or paperwork, I often hate being interrupted. I loose my whole thought train or rhythm. On the other hand, if I' m doing nothing but watching them, the temptation is to become drawn into their play in a way which doesn't always foster their own creativity. Being close at hand, but busy with my own project, which I can pick up and pop down at will, is ideal. I just need to master the art of making sure there's always a coffee on hand at those times too, and I might just have cracked it!

The weather is much less predictable than it was a week or so ago. There have been lots of torrential downpours, thunder storms and hot and humid weather. Still managed to find our way to the coast once or twice though.

I love how when you visit a new beach you discover the shells there. We visited a local beach we had not been to before the other day. The water quality was poor (warnings from the Environment Agency, yikes!) but the sands were littered with an abundance of beautiful shells. They were predominantly mussels but not exclusively so.

These fan shaped shells remind me of a holiday in Spain as a very young child. It was my first time abroad and I still recall how delicate and pretty I thought the tiny pink fan shaped shells were on the resort beach.

Lazy days and relaxed evening. I've been out to dinner with friends a couple of evenings this past week and it's wonderful to chill, chat and enjoy fine food. Back at home there are sweet peas by the bed and a good read on my Kindle.