Yesterday was our 6th Wedding anniversary. How did we celebrate? Romantic room-service breakfast in a ship of a white hotel bed, spilling champagne on the expansive white cover before.....
Um no. Try 7 hours wrestling bubble wrap and cling film, loading all our possesions into a moving van. Fingers bleeding and bruised, sneezing convulsively in the dust, frantically shouting 'Where's the TAPE????!!!!!!'
'Was Box 23 a box of mixed kitchen ceramics or Ashley's dinosaurs?'.
I haven't posted in ages, super busy moving. So to make up for it I will give you some footage on Team Ghostriders. That is- Monkeys riding dogs. See it to believe it...
So yes. I know you have all been on the edge of your seats...so here is the finished product! I must say I am very pleased with it, as it only took two hours and I managed to do the whole thing in one evening! Click through for the whole story, from fabric warehouse to party-bones baby snuggle-time.
with laughter. I just read this funny funny funny funny story by Australian Blogger Kerri Sackville. I laughed so much that Fae, who was sleepily nursing, pulled off and looked at me in surprised, licked the tears from my cheeks and went into full-blown laugh mode, cackling and shrieking. We laughed together for a good while. I felt a bit disturbed that I was laughing with my daughter about a story that contained the words 'clitoris' 'penis' and 'vibrator' . But there you have it, she will stay up late...
The time has come. I need to have a better night sleep. Fae Fae is 13 months old and having her wake multiple times at night for long leisurely feeds is getting a little old to say the least.
I have turned back to tried and tested , Elizabeth Pantley- The No-Cry Sleep Solution. The Toddler version was a ray of light when I was struggling with Ashley and she seemed to be the sole voice of reason in a tidal wave of 'advice' from 'experts'.
If, like me, crying-it-out is not an option, but you dont fancy waking up 8 times in an 8 hour stretch, then she is the woman for you. She is breastfeeding and co-sleeping friendly and lays out several workable strategies that you can pick and choose from with the aim of achieving that magical thing- to sleep through the night. Note that the medical definition of this is to sleep for 5 (is that too much to ask for) consecutive hours. So I wont be expecting that mythical 7 'til 7 dream. Not straight away anyway.
Time to stake through the heart of Zombie-Karli and resurrect the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Karli.
So we did a sleep log last night. Click through to see what it looked like...
We made the treasure-bottle. It held Spud's attention for about ten minutes. So I expanded it with all the left-over beans, mung beans (like seriously, what was I going to do with 3 kg of dry mung beans?), spaghetti, lentils, cous-cous, rice etc that was cluttering up my dry-store cupboard and made him a sensory box. That was better and he would play in it for about 40 minutes, different sessions saw diggers, farm animals, funnels etc. We also used the beans for weighing and measuring activities, and as a landscape for 'friends' that refused to stand up unaided
All was good but I could see that there was a logical next step...
So I'm on a mission at the moment to do as much crazy and 'out of the box' play as I can will the squiddlies. I want them to get carried away. I want them to shriek with glee, bounce up and down and go totally over the top with crazy madcap missions. I want them to lose themselves in deep magical worlds where they look confused when I call them for dinner and they realize they are not bogged in their 4 wheel drive in the Sahara, but still in the living room.
I want to say...'Sure you can pull the couches out and turn the living room into a mega cubby house with every sheet in the house pegged and safety pinned to the curtains. Sure you can take every cushion and blanket and beanbag we own and blow up 20 balloons and turn the hall way into a softplay centre, complete with mini trampoline.'
This is to be a crochet related post. Apologies to anyone who thought it was to be something more exciting!
So, today I showed a few ladies at a home-ed group we go to how to make granny-squares. It is so satisfying to watch a someone learn the first basic stitches, then whip up a granny square, and then go on to teach someone else. You don't get that with knitting...
There is some very funny stuff on this website... I always mean to buy some badges but haven't yet got round to it... Lactivist - promoting breastfeeding
These are some of my faves...
'You uploaded a photo that violates our Terms of Use and this photo has been removed. Facebook does not allow photos that attack an individual or group, or that contain nudity, drug use, violence or other violations of the Terms of Use. These policies are designed to ensure Facebook remains a safe, secure and trusted environment for all users, including the many children who use the site.'
So guess who had a picture removed from Facebook? Yup my heaving bosom was deemed to fall within the "obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit" catagory . Beware nipples may be present on next page...
I took Spuddy and Fae Fae to a 1 o'clock Club yesterday (a drop-in for under 5's). It was an absolooooootely glorious Spring day, 17*C and so bright that Ashley kept complaining that his eyes were burning out and asked
'Why is the world all yellow Mummy?'
Must be time to move to a warmer climate!
The club is held in a brand spanking new Adventure Playground, fully kitted out with scrambling ropes, tree houses, basket swings, flying foxes, you get the idea. Plenty of stuff to do outdoors.
So when we arrived and there was no children out I thought it must be closed. But no. There were people there, Mums and kids, all sitting inside. As Ashley would say...'Howordinary!'
It was so depressing. Mum's scolding one year olds for getting paint on their fingers. Toddlers being sat in corners for running inside. Crawling babies being held firmly in laps for fear they will pull books off shelves. Being placated with chocolate biscuits and bottles of milky tea. 'I've tried giving her water she just wont take it.'
Would I seriously be able to call myself a Wholesome Earth-Mother Domestic-Godesss type if I hadn't ticked the 'Granny Square' box? No.
Saying that- I never would call myself a Wholesome Earth-Mother Domestic-Godesss type.
But I have dabbled in a little crazy-square love and I thought I would share it with you. I learnt to crochet when I was a wee bush-girl and didn't pick up a crochet hook again (4.5mm by the way) until I started this in my 30's. I had to have a quick revise over on YouTube. ...This tutorial seems pretty clear. And this Flickr pool is fairly inspirational...
This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award.
For more information on Sir Ken's work visit: http://www.sirkenrobinson.com
I have a friend who has an amazing blog showing off her artwork. Some pictures are funny, lots are of animals and there seems to be quite a few of desserts. Here are some of my favorites...
So when I told my Dear Mum that I had a blog she asked 'Why?'
Which is a very good question. I have wondered the same thing myself. Frequently. So today I questioned my intentions.And this is what I came up with, it's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
I am moving to Australia in ....um....9 weeks. There may be one or two people that will notice that I am gone and may even care to check in to see what I am getting up to over there.
Today my wallet was stolen from by bag. I was on the bus, bag hung on the back of the buggy. I know I had said wallet because I tapped it on the Oyster reader to get on the bus.
I settled the kids in, unpacked lunch (as you do), then felt for my wallet to check I had cash to get into the Pirate's Playhouse, our destination. No wallet. Check all pockets...no wallet. Check pocket of pushchair, on seats, in pushchair, floor of bus. No wallet. Empty entire contents of handbag on a spare seat... Still no wallet.
Fae starts crying. Ashley takes this opportunity to swing off his seat like a monkey, and splits his lip. Cue everyone on the bus reaching for their phones to call Social Services. I looked like a deranged mad-woman. Luckily I held it down, soothed Fae with emergency toy, mopped blood from my son's chin and put my life back into my handbag.
Still no wallet.
Anyways. It wasn't there. Gone.
So that was sad. To cheer myself up I will now post some gratuitous pics of haberdashery. I just sorted out my huuuuuuuuge bag of bits and bobs, and tidied them into a smaller container. Very satisfying...
Reggae star Smiley Culture died today during a police drugs raid on his home.
Sources said the musician, who found fame in the 1980s with hits including Police Officer, is understood to have died from self-inflicted wounds when officers swooped on his home in east Surrey.
The police watchdog has been called in to investigate the death.
Smiley Culture, real name David Emmanuel, appeared on Top of the Pops in the 1980s with singles including Cockney Translation.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "As part of an ongoing operation officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Serious and Organised Crime Command today attended a residential address in east Surrey to make an arrest.
"While they were at the address, an incident occurred during which a 48-year-old man died.
"Officers from Surrey Police attended the incident and it has been formally referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission."
The IPCC confirmed it was investigating.
''A police source claimed that the singer asked to be allowed to make a cup of tea and killed himself with a carving knife while he was in the kitchen. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is to investigate his death.''
Am I the only one that finds this a little unbelievable? .....
I went to Hampstead Village on Sunday and wafted around like a 'lady that lunches', browsing in shoe shops and antique jewellery stores. And unbelievably nobody saw through my disguise, and pointed and shouted 'Imposter!!!! You don't belong here! Go back to the slums where you belong!' Thank goodness for that.
I only made one small purchase. These delicious buttons. £4. Brass. 1960's. Winner.
We wanted to make a present for Ashley's best friend to take on the plane. Hopefully his Mumma wont spend the whole flight fishing ears and teeth from down the side of the seat. We'll have to wait and see I guess...
Its a glorious Spring day, bulbs are thrusting up through the soil, birds are a-teweeting, and my garden sits patiently waiting for me to come lavish it with love and attention. But Im sittting inside, guilty. Why? Because I haven't yet told it that I am leaving it. Breaking up. Divorve. Going and never coming back. It trusts me so much. Our love affair has had it's ups and downs but it surely doesn't suspect this betrayal. I am leaving it for a garden that can give me something it never can...chickens....
So in May my munchkins and I will be leaving on a jet plane (don't know when we'll be back again), all the way back to my homeland Australia. While I can't wait to be home, surrounded by my family, the thought of that long long long long long flight is not filling me with joy. I thought that if I Googled 'best toys long-haul flight' I would be flooded with a million options, I would be spoilt for choice, and my fingers would be hurting from typing in my credit card number so many times.
What actually happened was that I was dragged around a million (literally) websites telling me that 'crayons are great for kids on long flights'. What rubbish. Fae would just munch them up and spit them all over me and Spuddy would become bored after one page of the complimentary activity book and take to colouring in the chair, walls windows, tray etc.
I have been trawling the internet recently looking for a few toys for Ashley to help me get through the 26, yes 26, hour flight to Australia. If I read one more 'expert' suggest a box of crayons I'm going to scream. Ashley doesnt like to draw, and crayons come free on the flight. Anyways.......
I saw something full of beads with hidden treasures inside but lost the link and couldnt find it again. And then as if by magic I found some very resourceful, creative Mumma was making them and I wondered 'Why didn't I think of that?' Too intent on getting my credit card out I guess...
So we did it, I had all the 'ingredients' in my cupboard, and it occupied Ashley for a whole hour!
'They' lied. The first post was a doddle. The second one, the one where I am supposed to bedazzle the world with my writing, photography, craft and mothering skills, is turning out to be slightly more difficult. So I think I'll just have a nice cup of tea instead... Care to join me?
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
They do say the first time is the hardest so I guess the best thing to do is just to get it out of the way....
