Domesticali

Dispatches from off the sofa

So, the Couch to 5K project? Still running (though there was a little hiatus in that extremely icy weather a few weeks back). It's not fast, it's not pretty, but it is getting outside and putting one foot in front of the other. The programme has you repeating each run three times, before moving up to the next level and every time I go to the next step I am terrified that I will not be able to complete it.

But to my surprise, I have managed and am enjoying it. Half an hour, alone in my own headspace. Time to look at the clouds and the trees and the sheep and the birds. To smell the earth, warming up steadily each day. And an endorphin enhanced sense of having achieved something afterwards.

Coffee Lady taught me a name for myself - a self-quantifier. But if taking a photo on my run, or ticking off the completed episodes in a podcast is what it takes to keep going, there is no great shame in that, is there? Small steps, little goals, tiny triumphs.

A little flat

There is a custom at the boys' school for taking in a little treat of the cake variety to share with your classmates on your birthday. Johnny's usually falls during half term, but rather than miss out, I thought they could be a cheering treat for back to school.

It was only as I was getting them out of the oven that I realized that taking cakes in on the first day of Lent probably isn't my finest hour, timing-wise. Oops.

They weren't my finest batch of cakes either. I'm blaming it on the February blahs. But it's nearly March. Spring is just round the corner, so I am attempting to chanel my negativity into getting ready for it. I've cleared out the cupboard under the sink, the airing cupboard and purged one wardrobe.

And during the purging, I was thinking about only surrounding yourself with things that make your heart glad. Life is too short to be confronted on a daily basis by things which make us feel grey. The spaces that make my heart lift are the ones full of tiny touches - where nothing is so insignificant that it cannot be sprinkled with a little care and cheer.

And so some of our wire coathangers got the joy treatment by covering them with fabric. It's so simple - just a little bit of double sided sticky tape and a torn strip of scrap fabric wound round and round. Is it a transformative change? Not a big one. But they do make me feel the tiniest bit brighter.

Small sweet celebrations

Johnny bean turned eight yesterday. Our celebrations were rather low key - his party is next weekend and he's also got the mother of all colds and isn't feeling tip top. But he did brighten up somewhat when he saw the cake his granny had got him.

The surprise was, there's no cake in it! Its made entirely from sweets. And I've discovered just how hopeless willpower can be. Even when I don't officially like sweets. Pass another cola bottle please.

The truckloads of love miscellany

Did Valentines Day bring you sweet things? We were pretty low key about it this year. But I did manage two little Bunny Nuggets for the boy children in my life.

It's a Rebecca Danger pattern (details here) and they knit up really fast from oddments.

Oddments is a good word for this week - let me share some with you:

Elizabeth, from my Needles and Natter group has set up a blog. She's lovely, her blog is lovely. Will you pop over and say hi? She's at Mrs Thomasina Tittlemouse.

We ate the most incredibly yummy sweet potato wedges this week. Honestly, incredible. 

Okay, so mine are not lookers, but honestly, what they lacked in beauty, they more than made up for in taste. The recipe is from Mad Hungry, but I found it for you on line right here. Put sweet potatoes in your basket this shopping trip - you won't regret it. 

While Johnny was playing at a friend's house, I promised Mark we could go on a more grown up cycle ride. It turned into a bit of an epic expedition through some of the stickiest mud I have encountered in a long while. And oceans of goose poo.

Afterwards, he washed my bike as well as his - for some reason, this small thing really touched me. Sweet boy. It was almost enough to make me overlook the soreness of my backside post epic-cycle.

Johnny did finish his stripey jellies, but they proved disappointingly unphotogenic.

If I'm honest, I didn't much care for the muddled flavours either, but he was pleased with them, which is the main point.

Next week is going to feel very quiet and dull round here - I do like having these munchkins at home.

Heavenly half term

Seldom has a half-term been so very welcome. The opportunity to relax, to play, to enjoy each other's company.

The older the boys get, the more I appreciate the interlude that the holidays provide. Time seems to pass more gently somehow. We seem to do more living, but with less frenzy. Or perhaps we get to do more of the parts of living that we actually want to do. Playing in the snow, a game of Monopoly, drumming, knitting, vegging out, eating, seeing friends.

There is space to make grand plans - in the case of Johnny, these are taking the form of rainbow striped jellies. He's a boy on a culinary mission.

Hopefully I'll show you how these turn out, but there's a fair chance they may not - our plans are fluid like that. Such is the beauty of the holidays.

 

Just in time

Off my needles yesterday evening. A Wurm hat.

I am hoping it gave me a small degree of anonymity in the school car park this morning as I accomplished a particulary spectacular wipe out in the compacted snow.

My boys were their normal sympathetic selves: Hahhahahah, Mummy, I can't believe you FELL OVER! I'm going to go in and tell EVERYBODY!

Just the ones who hadn't already seen. The shame.

Back to earth

You may already have heard about Saturday on the blogging grapevine  - Tracy, Val, Monica, Julie, Nancy, Alice, Emma and I got together. The excuse was a crafty day, but it was really one huge munch-and-natter-fest, with the odd bit of yarn being wafted about. Tracy was kind enough to host us in her lovely home, but quite frankly, I would happily stand in a muddy field if I got to do it with those guys.

I was thinking about them yesterday, when I ended up grabbing a bite of lunch alone in Nettlebed at Field to Fork. As a total aside, it's a great place  - if you are ever in the vicinity, stop off there. Better still, email me and I'll meet you for lunch - that's how much I liked it.

But back to the point. I was sitting next to a group of four women. They were around my age and were having one of those yummy mummy chatty lunches, on which I eavesdropped shamelessly.

Do you do that when you are dining alone? Is it dreadful of me? Well, confessing must absolve me of a certain amount of guilt. Anyway, I was listening to the usual school gate type mix of bragging and gossip (they even touched on knitting at one point) and all I could think about was how very very fortunate I am to have the group of real on-line friends that I do.

They might not have been physically present yesterday, to come and have lunch. Some I may never even meet in real life. But every time we connect, in real life or on-line, they turn up with their very best selves. To chat, to share knowledge, to cheer one another's successes, support precious plans and dreams and to proffer a virtual hug when things are rough.

Hooray for finding a tribe. I am so grateful.