Domesticali

Look at photos of flowers.

Breathe.

Erase all thoughts of passport related stress.

Two visits to the Post Office, three forms, two sets of photos. Does it really have to be this hard?

 

Diary consultation

This year, I really did try to enter the 21st century and use an electronic diary. But d'you know what? It hasn't worked out. I keep dropping balls. There was the birthday party I unintentionally forgot, the double booking of two important events and the offering to help a friend out on a day that was already busy.

Not like me at all.

So it's back to the big old diary on the kitchen counter - so what if I have to wait till I'm home to consult it. You can't stick washi tape on an elecronic diary. Or hedge your bets about when something is happening with judicious sprinklings of question marks. Sometimes, the low tech ways are the best.

And please, do not ask me how many cricket fixtures there are shoehorned in between now and the end of July. I may be the only person left in the UK praying for more rain.

The colour of rain

Love of colour always seems to me to go along with a zest for life. The sort of bold fearlessness that is guaranteed to raise the spirits - a call to joy. But colour requires energy, and sometimes there is more appeal in the soft focus of neutrals, which speak to me of  treading quietly. Of taking the time to observe, to look inward and reflect. They are undemanding, soothing, comforting.

Exactly the properties I feel should be present in a shawl. Not that I had made one before, or owned one, even. Perhaps embarking on an uncharacteristic project, led to an unusual choice of colour for me.

Pattern: The Shetland Trader, Simmer Dim 

Yarn: Juno Alice Sock in Pewter

Ravelled here

A wonderfully tranquil knitting experience. Quiet, on the sofa, with a cup of tea, listening to the rain falling outside.

 

Hanging around

Do you ever get the feeling that subconsciously, you are waiting for something to happen? In some sort of limbo that leaves you feeling restless and unproductive and not able to settle to doing anything of any consequence? The kicker is, I have no idea what it is I am waiting for. So this weekend, I have consciously decided to sieze the moment. If a thought comes into my head, I'm acting on it.

In some respects, this is a dangerous state of mind. It led to the sudden purchase  yesterday, of an upgraded drum kit for Mark. To be fair, he has been saving up for his share of the cost for over a year. And this child does not find saving easy. But when we went into the shop, and saw the kit with the spec above the one he had coveted, reduced to the same price and I said we should just go ahead and buy it, I swear his jaw almost hit the floor.

Thankfully, not all my impulses have been costly ones. It didn't rain today, which I took as a sign to get outside, prune bushes and bring in the last of the tulips from my cutting patch. The lilac is in full bloom, so some of that got cut and the greenery is courtesy of the lemon balm which grows like a weed all over our garden.

Clearly, the 'just do it now' mood is a catching one. I showed Johnny this post about a Nerf gun target and blow me, he agreed to making his own version right there and then. 

This makes me grateful on so many levels - perhaps I will stop finding nerf bullets all over every room of every house, building it occupied him for almost an hour and I am hopeful that it will give him something to do other than bait his older brother. Today, the torture of choice seems to be to follow him about, chanting 'puberty boy'. I had honestly forgotten what eight year old boys are like.

Perhaps what I'm waiting for is for him to grow out of it.

Good things from yesterday

::: Ric Rack the colour of sunshine :::

::: Quince Jelly :::

::: Meeting Sue :::

Nice things often happen in threes, don't you find?

Getting cosy

If ever there was a week for hunkering down indoors, this is it - rain, rain rain. The guilt I felt flipping the central heating back on this morning, was somewhat mitigated by cooking an enomous vat of stew, with a view to warming up the menfolk on their return home. Then, feeling smugly domesticated, it was time for a spot of sewing.

Tomorrow is the 2nd Birthday of Rosie's Tea Room, home of my much beloved and sanity retaining Thursday morning Needles and Natter group. I'm so looking forward to heading down tomorrow morning as I've missed the last few weeks with it being school holidays. I wanted to take a little something for Liz, the lovely owner who is always so welcoming to us (even when we get so rowdy that the window cleaner sticks his head in the door to tell us he can hear the laughter from down the street).

So I made a little cosy (just keeping my fingers crossed that the dimensions of the cafetieres at Rosie's are roughly the same as mine back home).

Did you spy the careful selection of buttons there? Couldn't resist the opportunity to slip in a crafty pun.

 

London Town

We country mice escaped for an interlude in the big bad city last week. It might seem an odd holiday venue, given that we don't live too far away.  But somehow, staying in London, trumps any number of day trips and boy did we luck out with a place to stay this time.

This is the Town Hall Hotel and Aprtments where we stayed - it's in Bethnal Green (a hop step from the Museum of Childhood) and is, hands down, the best hotel I have stayed in. An architecturally interesting building, renovated impeccably, filled with quirky modern art and equipped in a way which shows incredible thought and attention to detail (we're talking proper milk in the fridge, ipod docks and a rubber ducky for the bath). With four of us (one of whom is increasingly adult sized) we often struggle with the classic 'double bed plus sofa bed' hotel room offering, but not here, where we had a two room apartment with living room and kitchen too - bliss. Really, if you're needing a place to rest your head in London anytime soon, I recommed you check it out.

It was something of a miracle we managed to drag ourselves away from the pool and gym (the treadmill proving to be a surprising hit with Johnny), but we squeezed in some tourism too. Dodging the showers, we wnt for a nose around the Olympic Park. There's a path called the Greenway which gives really great views of the main Stadium, Aquatic Centre and the ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture thingummy. 

In fact, sport was a bit of a theme of our break, as it co-incided with the London Marathon. Though I'm not sure watching with our feet up from the window of Pret a Manger is exactly total immersion.

Don't tut - we spent a fair chunk of time roadside too. Those runners are hard core. Really - I am in awe, and not at all tempted to join in. My legs were tired enough with all the walking we did. The Bank of England, where you can lift a 2 stone gold bar and crack a safe, the Cutty Sark, Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory (and a great sausage shop pit stop lunch).

And the obligatory (in the children's eyes) visit to the Harrods toy department.

I love these unstructured breaks. A perfect change of pace, free from the distractions of being at home. Time to explore, see different things. And when there is so much to enjoy practically on your doorstep, there doesn't really seem to be a good reason for having to go further. Here's to holidays on your own doorstep.