Easter



  I love the shadows of these trees and the complementary colours that these walls are painted.



 Mistletoe that I remembered to capture before they are obscured by new leaves.

 Easter




 Yummy cupcakes and an Easter picture made by my girl.






allotment

 Back in the allotment after a winter of neglect. I,m a bit later than usual , last year it was February but I have just had a baby. It,s a bit of a mess but we,re at that stage of hopeful anticipation of the growing season  and I love that.

 It looks a sight now but just you wait...

 And what joy a baby that loves to bounce!

 And girls that still love to play

Up up up and away.....

" fun days"

Well.. I would never have imagined I would be doing this but we went to Butlins at Bognor Regis and we had Fun. The kids had a great time . The adventure was not without it,s fair share of over stimulated exhausted children . it was a very fast paced experience ..there was a lot to do , a fun fair , crazy golf , climbing wall,  a fantastic swimming pool and flumes, entertainment at night and we had to fit in eating and sleeping too !   But we did it.

All 18 kids ,plus adults

 The weather was very kind to us

 One minute we were all picnicking on the beach the next the sea mist had rolled in,

We might even do it again.

One day....

Wednesday is" Woods Day "

                                                 first signs of spring..beautiful snowdrops

  
                                                "our" funny little shack in the woods

                                    hot water for a nice cup of tea... we get through a lot of tea !

                                                   off for a walk..

                                                               boys with sticks !

                                                running back to the "den"

                                               pretty skies

Well, Wednesday is a day in the woods. We bring food to share, have a fire ,drink lots of tea,chat and keep half an eye on our collective group of kids who have great fun playing and exploring and learning.
Sometimes it can be hard going,we go all year round but we always arive home tired but energised from just being there.
We are so lucky to have our  forest day.

1st Crochet Project

well......feeling very pleased,I have been working on this for about a year and a half and it is very nearly finished !! Some ends to sew in and maybe a few decorative flowers. It is very luxurious, made of mohair from an old jumper, some wool I have had since  I was seventeen,some chenille from charity shops. I                                                    

A friend showed me how to do this simple afghan pattern and away I went; I had always wanted to learn to crochet but have found the instructions confusing so to be shown was perfect and since You Tube and all the great little tutorials one can see I,m going to keep at it .                                                                          

It feels so cosy wrapped up in it and already the kids have commendeered it .

I love It!

Dad and Son in the Woods

the beginings of a shelter

a dragon  i think

Bleak Wet Walk

I woke up and was inspired to mend the punctures that had for so long  been on my list of things to do.The bikes have been gathering dust and had not been magically mended by men elves like I had imagined. No ..I was going to have to do it and of course as soon as I did there was no end of help and before you knew it  all was done, readjusted brakes and seats ( some serious growing has been happening ). I did have to mend one puncture twice as I forgot to check inside the tyre for remaining sharp bits but at least I won,t     be making that mistake again..in fact next time I,ll help them mend them themselves .                                                                                                                          

So, where to go ?

Well, we all squeezed into the van and drove a while to Maldon where there is a good park and some estuary walking.First they had fun on the ramps and then we went walking. Forty five minutes into it we noticed the black clouds and it was so windy we decided to turn back but too late we were caught in icy driving rain and were soon soaked to the skin..Of course the kids were very miserable and it did seem along way back but it was good for the experience. I secretly quite enjoyed it . We peeled the wet trousers and socks off huddled under blankets  warmed ourselves up with hot drinks, homemade cake and pasta and then cold and tired  drove back to the cosy  home .                                                                                      

We used to go here and camp overnight in the van ,now there is no staying over night,the park used to be free and now it is a pound an hour and even though it was a Saturday we saw three different council vans checking for  tickets.                                                                                                                                  

One thing hasn,t changed i,m sure and that is the bleakness of it all, we try and imagine what it would have been  like when the Vikings came up the estuary  all those years ago.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

we were the only vehicle left in the park !!