Friends and Birthdays

I'm still chuckling at this - 'What?! Someone's had a slice of the cake?!

 

When that someone has driven all the way over to Box, near Bath, from Bosville, Normandy, braving severe weather warnings and tonnes of snow and that someone has her baby girl of only 7 weeks with her (that's me holding the little cherub, nothing more precious than baby cuddles, what a smartly dressed baby she is too!)...

AND she made the cake herself, yes, that's right, made it herself before leaving, as well as making sure her boy and man were catered for, I think she's excused and who can blame her? It was also her birthday, which she actually forgot about in all the preparation! Thank you RA!

Now I thought we were going for a quiet-ish weekend. We arrived on Thursday night, so as not to get snowed in. Film night on Friday, our friend in Box has set up a brilliant rural cinema, children's show on Saturday morning then a quiet night in for dinner on the Saturday...

We woke up to this on the Friday and that meant we had to go sledging and build snowmen!

The film night was postponed, due to the snow the film couldn't be delivered, but the children's one arrived for the Saturday morning and that was a great experience - hungover watching Madagascar III in a church on my 'significant' birthday, drinking hot chocolate and eating rocky road! 

I was totally bowled over by all my lovely friends making such an effort to get there and have so much fun! We chatted, cooked, laughed, drank, danced, cried, oh and of course - clothes-swapped! Here's Rowan getting into the spirit and trying on the shoes! Boys are not normally allowed to these events mind...

Bit blurred that photo, as were all the ones of the evening, which is probably a good thing, I don't want you getting the wrong impression of me!

Thank you Jam for being such a wonderful husband too, keeping it all secret, getting us there safely, getting the children's breakfasts ready, with beautifully drawn signs showing them where to go and how not to wake up the Mummy's, letting me have a lie in, a bathrobe, breakfast in bed...xx

A quick reflective tea break

Hmm,  I've been blogging for a while, but unlike those that do it every day and build up a huge following, I seem to do it less and less and it's probably only my sister reading this now.  But we had words, not me and my sister, me and the blog.  We decided it was time to stay focused and put some effort in.  And not just in the blog, in everything.  Having a child totally changes your life, obviously, point understood, but I'm wondering if it has totally stripped me of my ability to communicate and enjoy life.  Where did that fun-loving care-free happy-go-lucky me go?  I think I'm doing OK generally, most of the time, but it's nothing to write home (or here) about.  I'm struggling with fulfilling my husband's needs, and he is struggling with our situation right now, yet I think we will come out of the woods soon enough and realise that it wasn't all that bad, these things happen, you get over it and work it out somehow.  Communication is key and we haven't changed the locks yet.

The transition from being a woman to a mother is quite an incredible thing.  The love you feel as a woman for your man is something strong, uniting, passionate, exciting.  Put a baby in the mix and those feelings are still there, but how compelling is that protective bond?  That little precious being that relies solely on you for everything takes over, your heart and soul would move heaven and earth to protect and guide him.  It's a totally different way of life.  People you used to care passionately about seem to disappear into the ether.  Not forgotten forever, just no longer in your 'now'. 

That bloody cockerel!!! Why does it always go mental at this sort of time, just as the little one is sleeping, or at least trying to!  Perhaps this is why the blog has been neglected, and the husband! I just don't get time to sit down and do anything without some sort of interruption!  I'm in the middle of nowhere, idyllic and peaceful, baby sleeping, time to do something for me then that bloody shaggy cockerel starts.  Have you ever seen a cockerel getting frisky with the hens? Poor loves, what did they do to him? He arrogantly struts around, cock-a-doodle-dooing, shaking his scrawny arse in some poor hen's face, I've a good mind to... (calm down Flora) ...finish my tea, comfort the baby, think about preparing dinner, hang the washing out, wash my hair, tidy up, do some filing, make some biscuits, wrap the birthday present for my niece... That's right, run around like a blue-arsed fly for a few more hours until Jam's home then put the baby to bed and have some quality time with hubby: without falling asleep!

A tea break is never long enough these days.

Home made gifts

I started this post before Christmas.  When we had snow... 'It snowed even more last night, so much that we were snowed in this morning.  So plans for today were cancelled and that gave me valuable time to try and make some more gifts.'  That was as far as I got, honestly, these days I don't seem to have time for anything, you'd think I had a little baby or something!

These home-made gifts though are very simple to make, you can make it as arty as you like and it doesn't cost very much at all yet is greatly appreciated and treasured by your loved ones.  I made a batch for family Christmas presents and am going to make some more as thank you's, although how I shall find the time to do this all again I do not know!

Footprints first.  We wanted to try handprints but his little hands grab grab grab so they didn't look too pretty.  We painted the bottom of one of his feet with the paint, then planted it on the card, holding firmly and making sure his toes touched the card, then whipped it off and wiped off his foot before the paint got everywhere.  He was fascinated by the whole process, reaching forward to try and touch the card.

Jam came up with the poem, we printed it off on lots of different coloured paper and used my pinking shears to cut, which I wouldn't really recommend because they are meant for material not paper and are not cheap!  You can get zigzag scissors.

A quick tour of local charity shops finds lots of interesting picture frames.  We tried to make each one different, using different coloured cards and cuttings, after all, each footprint was different.

 A close up of a finished one ~

Fun!  We also made lots of chutney and jam.  There is something so rewarding about making things for people, especially when you don't have much money and would rather make something anyway.  I'm on the case with knitting.... and shall show you my Squirrel when I've sorted out his tail.