Thursday 30 August 2012

You have to begin somewhere right?!

So I was a little embarrassed to show anyone other than Kitty my first attempts at crochet but then I started thinking that we all have to start somewhere when we try new things and why be ashamed to give new skills a try?  Also it will be good for me to monitor my progress if I keep at it!  You never know maybe someone can give me advice via the blog regarding improving.  The stars are my first two attempts at Rachel's tutorial and it's nice to see they kind of resemble what they should! Haha! So thankyou Rachel! I love this blog and will definitely be revisiting often!


Note my strategically placed Aloe plant to keep my 'curly crochet' flat!

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Crochet away!

So I've been wanting to crochet for years!  Having tried half heartedly a couple of times but never really hit it off, a couple of weeks ago on yet another attempt at watching a few YouTube videos and a few peeks at various books/magazines I've collected over the years, I've finally managed to hook some samples that could actually pass as crochet!  I'm chuffed :)

So for now I'm just going to keep hooking? yarning? crocheting away?!  My next challenge will be to actually follow a pattern and try to make something purposeful!

I'm just finding it really calming and therapeutic when I have a moment to myself.  A couple of blogs I stumbled upon that have excited me on the subject are cornflower blue studio and Attic24.  Maybe at some point in the future I'll be good enough to follow the projects and patterns shown.  I love the little stars on Rachel's blog and could use them for a cute garland for Nelly or even stitch a few to her clothing!

So on this breezy London evening I'm going to enjoy my SMALL glass of wine, read my craft magazine and practice my crochet ;)






Tuesday 28 August 2012

dress for less


Top: River Island (£6.99), Shorts: carboot sale (Hollister brand) (£3), Tights (stole from my mother!)
TOTAL £9.99

Monday 27 August 2012

Nature vs nurture


So this is 'Sweetpea' who started the great debate around here of Nature vs Nurture.  You see I accidentally 'saved' Sweetpea from a cat.  Now until after the event I didn't consciously decide to shoo said cat away from her but it happened, it just kind of came out that I began flapping and shooing and cat ran away and 'Sweetpea' sat against a wall looking a little bedraggled and lost.  Sweetpea I realised was a fledgling/juvenile Wood Pigeon (someone may correct me on this if you please).

Now for the debate, do I leave a shocked and injured bird and pretty much guarantee kitty comes back for round 2 or do I give her a chance to recuperate?....

Before you're thinking leave her to go back to her nest/parents/tree I might add I did scan the area and in an open urban environment could see nowhere to safely place her.  

Part of me wished I had just left well alone but as I said I didn't really mean to intervene in the first place!

I carefully popped her in a box and covered it as best as possible and took her home.

Google searches entailed ranging from 'what do wood pigeons eat' to handing over wildlife to various animal charities. (In case you ever find yourself in a pigeon dilemma I'd really recommend these guys http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/  Invaluable and to the point advice!  Particularly not rushing solids and making up a glucose solution)

So lets cut to the chase, Sweetpea sat in my bathroom for a couple of days, in truth I was shocked she even survived the night, more from the shock of being man handled by lil ol me than all the other events of the day!  She feasted on warmed peas (hence her nickname) and pooped lots!!  We built her a makeshift shelter out of an old kids bunkbed frame left behind the shed just to be sure she'd last outside over night. As I was hanging washing about 3 days after finding her I got the sudden urge to release her.

And just like that as quickly as this dull scruffy little bird had entered my life she flew up and was gone... I wasn't happy or sad just pleased she seemed healthy and I hadn't unintentionally killed her with kindness! 

I cant really use the saying 'if you love someone set them free' because in all blunt reality Sweetpea is only a bird, a pest to some, vermin even?  But to me she represented chance and destiny - living the life we were born to as opposed to caging her for life if I kept her too long and in which case she may have imprinted on me.

This was all a week ago and as I run out this morning to grab the washing off the line because I sensed rain I feel something watching me.  A little wood pigeon, not quite grown, sits on the fence.  "Hi Sweetpea" I say as I unpeg the clothes and try not to make too much eye contact with her (another good bit of advice, pigeons find this rather threatening apparently).  As I go inside I hear her fly off and I smile ;) 


Sunday 26 August 2012

Fears

We are all afraid of something right? Personally I'm not too keen on clowns or people on stilts.  I used to be petrified of spiders as a child.  Murky muddy water too, I saw a film when I was a girl of images of deep dark murky water with children down in the deep, haunting and bloated.  Just thinking about it freaks me out still.  It didn't help that my brother was petrified of water full stop and was a terrible swimmer.  My dad one day took us to an open air swimming pool, I must have been about 9 or 10... he thought it would be fine and fun to push us out on these cool floating board type devices... thing is my brother fell off while we were in the deep end and in his frantic panicked state desperately clung to what he could...ME!  He was choking and clawing at me and pulling me under, he was heavier than me despite being the younger sibling and I remember swallowing so much water and feeling totally helpless.  I was fine of course just shaken and embarrassed from what I recall.  However I always saw drowning as a creepy way to go!   But today I faced my fears....

Yep I went kayaking in a reservoir, and it was great!  I didn't want the kids to know that I have a fear of deep dark waters so I just sucked it in, mind over matter and manned up!

And you know what, I capsized...

And you know what, I was fine...

A little shaky and pride a little bruised but it happened and life goes on...

Now excuse me while I go put my little friend outside ;)



Sunday snapshots








Saturday 25 August 2012

4 hours and counting

Facebook, where everyone 'knows your business'  yet few actually really 'know your business '.

So I've been alone for MONTHS now. Baby is nearly 9 months old and I've been feeling like there hasn't been any defining point where I've shouted from the rooftops "help, I'm lonely and isolated with 4 kids, I'm tired, financially unstable and can't cope!!!" Ok I'm exaggerating but some days a lot of it's true!  Yet we all feel the need to grin and bear it.  In fact not many people even know I'm 'single'.  Hate that word.  Not because I hate being single, but if we declare we are single does that mean we want not to be single?...
I mean I'm definitely not looking to unsingle myself! Not now or any point soon!

So this morning, tired and harassed having been up breastfeeding for the best part of the night and having no one to talk to at 6 o clock this morning I decided to declare myself single.  To come out of the online closet so to speak.  To stand up and be counted.

I'm talking about Facebook.  Where 'friends' are few and far between and really our friends list consists mostly of work acquaintances and people we knew when we were about 12...

So it's been 4 hours my timeline reports.  Since I edited my Facebook status...

not one comment...

no inbox message...

not even a like?!

Tell you what though, my ears are sure as hell burning...  ;)