Reading for Advent.

I love the run up to Christmas, its and extra special time to curl up and share some magical stories, enjoy time crafting and catching up with friends.

Our Advent reading this year is the Advent Storybook, the story of little bears journey to Bethlehem. The Christmas Mystery a journey through time and countries starting in 1950 in Norway and heading back in time to Bethlehem, to the time Jesus was born, lots of interesting facts added into the story. The an all time favourite, The The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe but the first time L will of heard it, we read The Magician's Nephew earlier in the year and she loved it. I have the BBC series and the film to watch once we have finished the story. We also have a basket full of other Christmas stories to enjoy.

I have enjoyed making some cross stitch Christmas cards and decorations.

I have had a lovely little German paper craft book for a few years and every year I will say I will make something from it, this year finally got round to it. Thoroughly enjoyed making this owl, though it did take a lot longer than I expected it too.

More paper craft fun, making a various different hanging decorations.

The design below, I have made a few times and couple of years ago I put together step by step directions to make this pretty snowflake star.

I have been busy knitting, our lovely local independent craft shop closed down in the summer, so I stocked up on some wool and other craft bits, L wanted some wrist warmers like mine so she can wear them when we play sport.

L chose this stylecraft pattern for the rest of the pink wool.

I have made this sirdar cardi  so many times, it knits up so nicely in whatever type of yarn I use.

L has moved up to the older art group, she was resistant to the idea of change to start with but now is enjoying the different projects we are working on. Last week it was using newspaper and card to make sculptures, L made a lovely dragon, we finished painting him at home.

Recuperating

Its been 2 months since my hip replacement surgery and so far things are going well. Its great to be able to walk up the stairs normally,without having to hang onto the banister and pull yourself up.  Physio is pleased with my progress and have lots of rehab exercises to do everyday and its great to be out everyday for a walk, with no limp. Be a while before totally pain free as still healing and body adjusting to new improved posture, my knee caused the most issues but everything I have read this seems to be very common problem and time and physio should sort it all out. Oh and Max and crutches is interesting, he spent the first week being terrified of them, then decided that maybe they were good to pounce on, not helpful but luckily only lasted a couple of days, then he decided they were best ignored! The staff at the hospital were wonderful, can't fault them, made the 4 day stay easy to deal with, though was glad to come home. No allergic reactions to any meds, yay, though was rather sick and ended up on anti sickness tablets for the first week, after that I was taking just paracetamol, which I am ok with and by week 3 didn't need anything. I am amazed at how well my body has recovered from this surgery so far, fingers crossed it carries on doing so, the only downside was finding out last week my left hip doesn't look that good and they reckon 4 to 5 years and that will need replacing too. Though at the moment it is only giving the odd twinge, which isn't bad considering all the extra work its been having to do over the last couple of months.

Now hubby had the first two weeks to care for everyone, what he wasn't expecting to do was end up cake making and decorating with L. She overheard us chatting about some of the ideas I had for different project work, one was making a sarcophagus, now not the normal cardboard box ones I had seen but a cake one. That was it, Dad was not going to get any peace until this had happened, I would say at this point he looked rather shocked and really not sure what he had been talked into! Anyway of to the shops they went to find some cake decorating bits and home to bake an egg free cake. A few questions and then all I could here was lots of giggles and chatter from the kitchen, if I say both hubby and L was pleased with the finish cake, that is an understatement and I have discovered after 22 years of marriage my husband had a hidden talent!

Slowly working on L's jumper, its called Rosebud, the body is knitted in a round and the split for the armhole shaping and neck, its a lovely pattern to knit, using a pale blue cotton yarn.

Have spent a lot of the first two weeks recuperating and binge watching way too many box sets and reading lots, then decided to get out this little embroidery to work on, I usually do cross stitch but loving the fun of a variety of stitches, might have to do some more.

Oh and the highlight of November so far was L had another food challenge, this time the garden pea, she isn't impressed with taste of them but managed to eat her way through 80g of them during our morning stay at the hospital. She started of with 1 pea, then 4 peas, slowly building up the amount she had in each portion, it does mean that she needs to keep eating them at least twice a week. Otherwise research has shown that she is at risk of becoming allergic to them again, something about the body recognising the protein but not reacting to it in the right way.

Changing Weather!

Monday was my birthday and it was wet, had planned to go out for a walk, especially as the weather was nice and sunny at the weekend but it rained most of Monday, so change of plan. I know we do do wet walks but not today, instead, I had a lovely long phone call with my Aunt, followed by storied with L and then watched some TV with both girls. My family know me so well and have a nice selection of new books to read and another season of Blue Bloods to watch.

In the afternoon we spent some time doing some science, L was interested in M's science and what categorising meant, we've been looking at classification and the binomial system. So we talked about why we categorise things / put groups of things together like all her socks in one draw, T-shirts together etc. Or how the supermarket puts all the fruit together, then the veg, meat etc and can you imagine how confusing it would be if you went shopping and your first aisle you had oranges, then bread rolls, ice cream, the next isle apples, meat and magazines and it was regularly changed. Shopping would take a long time, it would be confusing and stressful, highlighted this week by our main supermarket we use, having a change around. So we organise  to make our lives easier, so our brain isn't overloaded and scientist do the same for similar reasons. We then played an old party game, collect 10 to 20 random objects on a tray, spend a minute looking at them, remove tray and try and remember what was on the tray. Great fun was had and we ended up playing this game several times. after the first go, we looked again at the tray and I talked about how they can link objects by use, colour, subject, or tell a story with them to try and remember them. So you could do utensils, food, toys, or a story, one day the rabbit saw 2 trees and orange and an apple tree, she used scissors to get them and shared them with the sheep and the horse, doesn't work for everyone but that works for me.

So L learnt about what and why we categorise and making links for ideas on what to put together, while having fun. M thought deeper about how and why we organise, plus ways we can revise though making links, as well as going back over the classifications system, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. I was taught and it always stuck with me was the mnemonic King, Philip, Came, Over, For, Great, Sex, my Mum would not of approved of that, there was one I came across later about kings and chess but that has never stuck the same, not sure why though!!

Tuesday we had our home ed park meet up and the morning it looked like it would be rained of, it wasn't but went prepared with waterproofs etc, turned into a very hot sunny afternoon, that none of us parents were ready for!! Wednesday it has alternated by either raining or sun but after getting the washing in twice, gave up and left it to dry indoors but did manage a nice walk, looking at man made and natural objects. L tonight has said that she hasn't done any work this week its all been fun and games, must be doing something right.

The weekend was busy, on Saturday M has dance first thing and we do a food shop, pop to the library and butchers as needed, home, quick lunch before one of us takes her to drama. This week hubby did the gymnastics run and as it was so nice, L went with him and they had a lovely walk and I got to sort out all the toy baskets. Now M has been looking at different dance lessons and struggling to find a school locally that we can get to that do what she wants, or doesn't clash with her gymnastics. Anyway I found a theatre arts school that did some dance, musical theatre and drama, convinced her to try a drama lesson on top of a dance class. The classes have a maximum of 6 so thought she wouldn't be overwhelmed etc, try out was last Saturday, She came out saying she didn't like the dance but enjoyed the drama, second lesson this week and she came out with a big smile on her face. On the first week the teacher picked up on the speech issues and gave her some tips for trying to compensate for it, seems very understanding and enthusiastic. Hoping the drama will give her more confidence in talking and dealing with people. She is happy chatting with friends and neighbours but struggles more with strangers, so I am looking ahead for college and work, so confidence building is a good thing. So while she is in the 45 minute class, I get to sit in an empty canteen, with no distractions and read and/or lesson plan, rather perfect use of time.

Sunday saw us up the allotment, picking the last of the apple, some raspberries, peas and some of the carrots, this year the carrots have done amazingly well and surprisingly all rather straight!! No I haven't dug out a trench and put in decent soil and yes our soil is very stony but this we have started using the no dig theory to the allotment, so compost is scattered over the top of the soil and covered for the winter, leaving nature to do its work, will have to see if we keep producing straightish carrots!

Pears are looking good but not ready yet.

Its all change for O he has decided to go back to college and do an access course in biology with chemistry, it has been a bit of a bumpy year for him this year and nothing has gone to plan,loosing his spleen and spending  time in ICU has knocked him. Though he still likes the gym work, and might finish his personal training course, the close shave with death and stuck with a zero hour contract job, has changed his view. When he was younger he always wanted to be a vet but due to health reasons mainly allergies it wasn't going to be feasible, so gym instructor/personal trainer was second choice. He decided very last minute to apply for uni, doing a foundation course in biology but for the first time ever I said no he wasn't going, it was too rushed for a major decision and huge amount of debt and he hadn't even looked at the uni. So after much debate he choose a local college and is enjoying it so far, so we will be looking at unis later in the year and saving towards it as well! I am a lot happier, though I don't mind last minute changes etc but this just felt to much of a major one to rush, this way he will have time to check out the different unis etc.

On a crafting front, the dress with the neckline I stretched is still sitting in the sewing basket but have picked up my cross stitch and started working on that again, can't wait to do a bit more and add in some outline so the detail is clearer. Knitting have finished back of baby jumper and made a good start on the front, joining Kat for Unraveled Wednesday

Bank Holiday Weekend

The last week has mainly been about enjoying the sunshine and making the most of being outside, Rosie has worked out that she doesn't have to do the hard work of finding the juiciest, nicest dandelions, she can sit back and let L do it for her, one very happy rabbit.

Bank holiday weekend we attended the local County Fayre, L enjoyed the animals and had her first ride on a donkey. She has been wanting to ride a horse for a long time but I think she would be a bit worried about getting near a large animal, let alone on it! So a donkey ride was a good starting point, she got on the donkey fine, panicked when it started to move and wanted to get off, with some reassurance she settled down and rode round the ring, wasn't sure at the time how much she enjoyed it or not but today she has asked if she could ride a donkey again, so assuming that means she actually did like the ride in the end but no mention of horse riding lessons at the moment!

They had loads of tractors, going back to one of the first produced in this country, to modern day, the commentary about each tractor was rather interesting.

They had a lovely display of some birds of prey, watching them fly is always amazing, the owner had a raven that would bark like a dog, rather that talk. they also had tug of war competitions, the young farmer's floats.

Fruit is slowly ripening at the allotment, well one red strawberry,

a few red currants,

and a nice lot of apples, hoping these do well as they are delicious , it's a blue moon column apple tree.

Peas are doing really well and we have just sowed a load more, to hopefully spread the season out.

The blackberries have just started to blossom.

I planted a couple of lupin plants two years ago, one is doing really well, do love lupins, had a lovely display in our front garden but they died of a few years ago and the next lot I planted didn't do well, now have some seedlings that I hope will do well, now the soil has had a break might do well again, fingers crossed.

Anna wrote a lovely review of The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul, I've been on the library waiting list ever since and finally got to pick up a copy the other weekend, now halfway through it and loving it, it's a nice story but also interesting, as you get to see the different cultural mix and the traditional family views and the more modern ones collide.

Lots of work in progress, I've knitted a couple of rows of the throw and the same on L's cardi, cut out the fabric for the geranium dress for L. The purple fairy fabric is her choice, she was really pleased with it when she found it in our local fabric shop and can't wait to wear her fairy dress.

Have just about finished the autumn embroidery, just one leave to finish of and then to decide whether to move onto the spring or winter section.

Joining Kat for Unraveled wednesday

We have been given some back issues of Eco Kids, L loves these and I have decided to treat her to subscription, actually think this is a treat to hubby and I as we are both enjoying the magazines too. The first issue is covering the rain forest, we have this lovely book Nature Cross Sections, that covers various habitats, it was a book I bought for O when he was the same age, it has been well loved. Anyway I can see us having a lot of fun learning about the rain forest at the moment she is interested in the different layers as in the forest floor in the under canopy, the canopy, emergent layer and all the animals that live there.

Origami and Other Crafts

Our story this week is from Japan, so we have been busy making some origami figures and learning about hanami, which means flower viewing, I've also seen it called the blossom festival and looking at some beautiful trees in blossom.

Finished swans.

Then some simpler folding to make some cats and dogs to decorate.

I had planned some painting, tissue paper craft around the blossom but in the end we have spent most of this week outside, Monday was spent in the garden, Tuesday in the woods and park, though it did get rather cold. Then today out for a walk, spending time looking at various flowers in different front gardens, lots of  beautiful displays and different flowers to the ones we have at home, then a game of croquet in the garden. We have found a lot of caterpillars on our raspberries, to say the least! Watched bees, ants and various birds in our garden.

Joining Kat for Unraveled Wednesday

 I am feeling rather organised and hoping it lasts, meal prep is done, housework done, washing on the line and I am making the most of a sunny day off and have managed to spend some time knitting and reading in the garden, while the older 2 wrote assignments and L played in the sandpit. The joys of finding my housework rhythm again, along with our meal planning, long may it last. There has been no unravelling this week but some unpicking of my cross stitch as I had miscounted somewhere, luckily not too much but did waste time trying to decide whether to unpick or work around the mistake before deciding unpicking it would have to be! Anyway rather pleased how it is coming along and have done some more outlining, always a bit nervous about outlining in case it looks a bit rubbish but then again their is also the joy as the cross stitch really comes to life!

On a knitting front, have finished the yoke for Granny's favourite and divided for the sleeves, enjoying it so far, now for lots of stocking stitch and no pattern, so in theory should get a lot done. Reading like crafting, I have to have more than one project/book on the go!! having finished and enjoyed, even the twist at the end My Sisters Keeper, it was time for a trip to the library at the weekend and came across The Monogram Murders. Now I am a big Agatha Christie fan, finally got to see The Mouse Trap last year and loved it,  so that is what caught my eye, the author has been given permission to use the Poirot character in a new book. On chapter 3 now, it's not quite Christie and Poirot isn't quite Poirot but it is reading nicely anyway, Poirot is supposed to be in hibernation, having moved out of his flat and into digs temporarily to give "the little grey cells" a rest but that doesn't last for long. Having taken a look at the reviews on amazon, they are very evenly spread over those that love it, those that hate and those in the middle and I can see why. The other that I am reading is The Gift of an Ordinary Day , I feel this will be a book to savour and enjoy, read a chapter and dwell on it. This is a quote that I like " Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you," so true because you cannot plan everything. Life is journey of transitions and change, some planned and some not, some desperately wanted and some detested but in the end they all help us grow as a person and give us knew strength and understanding to be the person we are today.