A.W.A.L

A very sunny, warm and happy 'Good morning' to you all! I thought I'd better explain why I've been absent from my blog for about a month now. It's not through lack of love for my blog or that i've moved on, it's simply that I've no camera! Mine is completely bamboozled, so please bear with me and as soon as I've sorted my camera issue I'll be posting like never before! xx

A new smile....

Its kind of sad in a way how your child's smile changes over the years. When they are born its a gummy smile, then they break a tooth and its a  toothy smile, sometimes they do that tooth thing where they like to stick their tooth out at you, do you know what I mean? Like they are so so proud that they have a tooth! Then they finally grow all their teeth and the smile changes yet again. You get used to that for years, then this happens........

Yes little Miss Princess looks like she's been in a fight! A Disney villain, Daddy says! Hehe. And its getting worse, that other top tooth is already loose! Another mile stone in my Princess's little life :-)

losing a limb........

My heart is breaking, I feel like I am losing a limb, a vital part of my being. My dearest, most beloved friend has told me she has to move away. This isn't just any friendship, which would be bad enough, she is the nearest I have to a real sister, she came into my life at a time when I needed someone the most, when I was heavily pregnant and disabled and so very depressed. She just breezed into my life just at a time when I needed someone to lean on. I truly believe that God knew I needed her right then and sent her. She is the one who showed me the way spiritually, showed me how to understand the bible better, she taught me how to be a better wife, a far better mother, she took bags of washing when it just got too much, cleaned my kitchen when I had no strength left, brought me fruit, veg and vitamins when I was ill, painted my house when I just could not do it, took my children when I needed help. She's halved my burdens, given me strength, encouraged me with some of the most important things in my life..... the list goes on but most of all, most important of all she's always believed in me no matter how low I am, how beaten I feel she's always believed I can accomplish anything I put my mind too. she brought sunshine and rainbows into my life and now she's going. The darkness and emptiness that will be left is going to be huge. I will miss her terribly, my heart feels so heavy and so full of mixed emotion. No one could possibly fill the huge expanse she will leave in my life. I wonder if she realises how loved she is, how much sunshine she brings to everyone in her life, how much I have learnt from her, how missed she will be, just how important she is to me.

{ This moment }

A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Yarn along.

My 2nd ever yarn along! my photo is terrible, as had baby on my lap asleep and was unable to move :-). The chicks and I visited the library last week, so here is my new book! I do love a good historical fiction. I am Woking hard on my rainbow shawl but its very slow work, I can only do a bit now and again when Chicks are absent. The Elsa cardigan is awaiting buttons and ribbon, and blocking. What are you reading and working on?

the book is called 'The forbidden Queen' By Anne O'Brien. 

Slugs and snails.....

Today was .... Interesting. You see in our garden we seem to have an infestation (if such a thing exists)? Of slugs and snails. Hmm you might think, but I kid you not they are everywhere! If we come back home at any time from dusk onwards, well its seems the whole districts slimy beasty population has decided our garden is wear the cool bugs hang out. This will give you some idea of the scale, we came home the other evening and it was still fairly light, but had been a damp afternoon, our path must be say 6m long, every inch of it was covered it slugs and snails, it was like something I've never seen before. Now little Miss Princess is absolutely terrified of them, she goes into panic mode. There she is screaming so much she's almost blue! If only the slugs could run, I'm sure they'd have legged it! I had to find a path through these beasties, on tiptoe I add as they hardly left any gaps for us to tread through them. Mr Incredible had to play the knight in shining armour and carry Miss Princess in, the boy, my Hero just braved the tiptoe path after me. Little Miss Curly locks also had to be rescued. This slimy situation has been going on for a while, but that night, well it was like something Mulder & Scully should be investigating, very yukky and very weird. When we got in and settled panicked girls down, I decided the time had come, I proudly announced to the chicks 'Mummy is declaring war on the Slimy critters'! No longer can we deal with these out of control yukkies. Children are funny though, all that screaming and when I declare war, they are get fretful that it means we have to kill these beasties, which shows how kind hearted the chicks are......hmmmm now I could catch them all and quietly disrepute them in small random groups all over the village, but I really don't think the neighbours would appreciate new pets moving in. I really try to see the best in things and I am thinking that of these creatures, God created them, for a reason I am sure, and he knows why he made them so slimy and ugly, I must confess thought I have to just trust him on this one because well YUK! (I really should research into this more, like what they do for our gardens). So now war has been declared, what  method do I use to get rid of these pesky things? (If you have any good ideas, please let me know in the comments). I think well there are slug pellets, but I have children and a dog (not to mention some locals cats have also decided our garden is the cool place for them to hang out too) Also I worry over the little birdies who might pick up a dead slug or snail for breakfast and get poisoned too, slug pellets are poisonous, lethal to us and animals too. I went to the garden centre and thought there must be some that are safe for kids and pets? No such thing in this shop! The man advised me wool pellets, or gravel, I am looking at these small containers filled with said wool and gravel thinking 'right.... I have to cover the whole garden in these bits because we are not talking about one or two slugs here. Also it must be a very painful end for the beasties, it must hurt. Salt was suggested, I thought about poor slugs kinda being painfully dissolved with salt, not to mention the waste of salt, nope, no good either. Then a slug pub was suggested, bait a trap with beer, slimy monsters smell it and can't resist then get drunk, fall in and drown..... Still, not a nice end. But far better that dissolving, burning, poisoning, or sharp gravel tearing their tummies up. I think out of said choices I'd much rather die via the beer method. I want to get rid of them in the kindest way posible, they are only making a living after all. so beer traps it is!

Rainbow shawl

Here is my new project, I've been itching to get this one cast on. I could bear to wait no longer! So far I've only had to rip it back and restart once, hehe. I am finding the yarn (100% wool) not too bad to work with, although its not as soft as I'd have liked, the colour of it is a total delight! The way each colour changes into the next is art in itself. I have to wait and wait until I get a quiet few minutes, children free to sneak in a few rows so I don't get lost on the chart. Although the rows are getting longer and longer soon I'll have to find a quiet few hours! (Yeah, right)! I am thinking of this project as a long term work of art, its not something you can do with distractions around you. I dream everyday of the future with this creation, imagine wrapping it around me and snuggling into it. I imagine wearing it on my head when I pray, for this really is what it is my rainbow prayer shawl. Isn't God amazing? How he made us to be so imaginative and creative, for we are made in his image, and just look what beautiful creations he surrounds us in everyday. Look around you everyday, even when your sad, look for the best, see the beauty, just one thing everyday that makes you smile. Be it a flower, a rainbow, a book, your child, a friend. It could be something big or something really small and simple, but if you look for it you will find it. When you feel low it is a hard thing to do, because we naturally see the bad that surrounds us. But it is worth it, sometimes only you can pick yourself up again. What beautiful, blessing have you found today.....?