Snap and I have a very exciting time choosing the perfect stick as we take our walk everyday.
You can see that for quite a small dog she has quite large ambitions when it comes to the perfect stick.
Sometimes though the choice is just too hard! Have a good weekend, I hope you find your perfect stick...
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This weekend a favourite toy was rediscovered. Something I thought had gone away until maybe grandchildren come along, enjoyed an afternoon of intensive play in the sunshine. I don't know which of us was the most happy to see it again........
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Back to my holiday picture album today and a day out at our local Castle. We are lucky enough to live less than twenty minutes away from Chirk and with National Trust membership we visit often for a cheap day out. Here are some of the things that we enjoyed on a wet visit with some friends in the holidays.
(If you click on the mosaic you can enlarge the pictures - the best bit was putting them all in the stocks! If only I had had some rotten tomatoes.... )
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Do you remember my garden rainbow all the way back at the start? Well the same technique came in very handy to distract a rather grumpy younger brother on a recent day out.....this time we tried rainbow stones and it worked a treat. What good ideas do you have up your sleeve for those moments when a little distraction is needed? I'd love to know - and add them to my arsenal!
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As promised here is some of the fun we got up to at the Eden Project last week.....
.....we played with water.....
...conquered the willow kingdom....
....took a ride through California....
....designed and built a den....
...pumped water and learnt a lot....
....discovered new ways to enjoy garden furniture...
....ate ice creams....
...and finished by resting our tired (and dirty!) feet.
Back tomorrow with some arty treats!
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We spent a lovely afternoon playing with my marbles. I have been collecting them since I was a little girl and now I keep them in a big green terrarium jar. We started by pouring them all onto the carpet...
...then we separated them into colour groups....
...then we counted them in piles.....
...before we returned them to the jar - all 1563 of them!
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Summer holidays are finally here and the next seven weeks stretch ahead of us full of possibility. The choice I was facing between a career opportunity I have wanted to pursue for twenty years, my family and my creative life has resolved itself perfectly and I can enjoy the break full of optimism for what the Autumn will bring. The boys and I have resolved to spend the first week in our pyjamas, with no appointments, plans or deadlines, enjoying a complete break from routine and allowing our bodies to recover from all the rush, worry and excitement of the last few months. During that time we are going to watch movies: Nim's Island [DVD]
Read books and zines: The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition
Explore links and plan projects: Amy's list of what to do
Listen to old favourites:
and plan new menus for fun in the kitchen: Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes
I may be quiet over the next few days but I would love it if you could share some ideas of what you will be up to over the summer for me to explore when I get back. Do you have special traditions or new ideas to fill the days (or nights)? Crafty ideas to keep us cool (or dry if this summer is anything like usual)? Recipes perfect for an outside meal or dvd watching in your PJ's? Leave me a comment or some links and then join us over the holidays as we see how much we manage to pack in!
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Yesterday's party was blessed with best friends and blue skies. The cake turned out well and was nearly finished in one sitting while the sound of happy children rang around the garden. These twice a year gatherings of my favourite women and their children have become a tradition for all of us. A comfortable and simple celebration of time passing, sharing food and chatter.
Age has no baring as all play happily together, conjuring complicated imaginary games on the trampoline. The familiarity of years and years of similar occasions binds us like a extended family.
Still regretful that Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins live so far away but equally grateful and honoured to have this other family who support and care for us, join us at these special times.
As the day came to an end a sense of contentment filled the house, evidence of happy moments sprinkled around the rooms. Tidying away and cleaning became a joy not a chore as each displaced item evidenced the fun that had gone before. The messes of a home that had enjoyed a day of being truly lived in and looked forward to it happening again.
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Yesterday was a serendipitous day, another day where plans dissolved, but going with the flow resulted in a perfect birthday! Heavy snow meant no work or school, no lunch treat with my friend (as we both live down un-gritted roads), no parents evening after school and no special meal with my Husband in the evening.
Instead I got to stay at home in the warm, my family around me. Had a long soak in the bath with some sumptuous bath cubes from here. Baked 'button biscuits' using this fun recipe. Made a Waldorf window star using this inspirational tutorial (found kite paper here if anyone else in the uk is searching!)
Managed to make it to the next village for a delicious lunch with all my boys and enjoyable company, met by chance. Played in the snow, and built snow men.
Dipped into my pile of wonderful birthday books (more about them another day!) and finished the day snuggled up with my Husband and our velvet dog to enjoy my older sons gift of the first season of Northern Exposure. Couldn't have planned it better if I tried!
As yesterday was also the closing date for my thank you giveaway, I took Kate's advice and managed to do this:
Here are your random numbers:
4Timestamp: 2010-01-14 06:16:34 UTC
Which means that http://agaelemental.blogspot.com/ has won the other brooch in a colour of her choice! Thank you to everyone who entered and don't worry there will be other opportunities in the future :D
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This weekend was spent catching up with friends we haven't seen for years. Five boys enjoyed an instant friendship unchanged, in one case, by half a life-times absence. Parents caught up and laughed about old memories and mushrooms were found (proper, proper, fairy mushrooms!)
Chestnuts too - nestled in their prickled beds.
Trees were conquered.
Views enjoyed and hilarious games of 'Tap Tap In' (another name for 40/40) taken part in, by the young and the slightly older!
It lasted long into the evening and finished with promises not to leave it so long again!
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Hello, welcome to my blog, a place I like to record things I have made, things I have seen and the things that help me to enjoy my life. I would love to hear from you by email or in the comments and will try to respond unless life gets in the way (and I have to admit that with 2 boys, 4 chickens, a naughty blue wippet and a husband that works all over the world, life does tend to get in the way quite often!) Please do not reproduce images or content from this site without permission, just contact me by clicking above and I usually say yes!
