We're home!

After 3 long glorious weeks basking in the sun in the French countryside,  we are home. We are all so rejuvinated.It's the much slower pace of life, lack of work (outside the home!) and having loads of..... fun! We had ping pong tournaments, badminton games, loads of bike rides and could I get the kids out of the pool!
France is such a great hostess - nourishing sunshine, romantic walks, lakeside bike trails and superb simple local food plus no TV/ internet access or screens for 3 weeks.
Family mealtimes, our love of the outdoors and being together have always been so very important in our daily priority list but sitting together outside for every meal, no bedtime routines and kids playing in the lake at 11 o'clock - well that just puts a whole other slant on things, doesn't it?
 Life is good.

Thrifty Thursday - upcycling quickie!

...  here's one i did last night!
 A plain brown A line skirt, some old corduroys and embroidery floss and about 3/4 hr later i had a smart new "anthropology" style skirt for work. We're going off line for a couple of weeks... see you soon.

This moment.. Last child in the woods

Its been raiining cats and dogs all week - hey, do we care. My wonderful kiddos doing outside what they do best.. playing.

Thrifty Thursday - Falling off the wagon

Over the years I've suprised all those who knew me in my pre-mumo days by becoming less materialistic and quite frugal. Some of our friends are bemused by our thriftiness, economical baking and upcycle crafting.For in years gone by, much as I am loathe to admit it now - a new handbag, top or stuff for the house was bought without much thinking going on. But when the kids were born I wanted cloth nappies, homemade products and it went from there. Now 8 years later with the family emphasis on  financial stewardship, fairtrade & ethical/recycling shopping has become the norm. I don't really want the kids growing up thinking getting money is like turning on a tap or that they are underpriviliged if they don't have the latest DS/fashion/ tech gear.

But there are times when the "shopping mist" comes down over me .....I wanted new shoes this week. I've coveted some lovely Fly London ones but they cost a fortune.  I left the shoe shop feeling a bit, well, tetchy, pleased on one hand I'd resisted the urge for a pair of £90 shoes but not so pleased as I wasn't holding a bag. To soothe my ruffled feathers I popped into the Oxfam shop next door to look for some new Pyrex. What could be more soothing than that?(except fabric and maybe wool!!) What did I spot on the floor? Oh I felloff our "non spending" wagon hard. The Shoe Fairy was smiling down with these gorgeous, soft, perfect Ted Baker mules. So for £5 Oxfam was better off and ultimately so was I- yup -  win, win all round in my opinion.

Whats your thrifty moment this week?

Weekending....good day for ducks.

We make no apologies, and it is slightly left of centre but we are a house that like ducks. Cute furry baby ones up to bring strong daddy ones. They show their personalities the same as us. Between school tests, drama exams and festivals we were all itching to get out of the house. So on a weekend that howled with rain (the summer???) we headed for the duck sanctuary. Good weather for ducks as they say.

the goose is huffing with her!!

We have a cheeky little spiked haired redhead too! (see pic below)

What a "Whopper" of a baby - too cute for words.

First steps outside the duckery

This moment.. when Harry met the Twins!!

a punch and judy mutiny

Wow, take a look at our 8 year old starlet in full make up for her stage school yearly production.

She looks, well, too grown up -  thankfully the red lippy is being kept strictly for the theatre productions. It's not for the first time I have pondered the speed of time. I swear it goes faster when you have children. I know and you probably know all the naysayers who warned us " They grow so fast, enjoy them while you can"...... yes, well, they were so right.

And, so I don't encourage that much engagement with the normal trappings of 8 years olds today. I don't want them to grow up so fast. Hence, my support of the  spontaneous punch and judy puppet show on Sunday night.
Emma, as the drama queen was narrator (take that as THE BOSS!)and took pole poistion behind the sofa and the other two had leading roles.

All was boding well for an evening of imagination and story-telling. Until, a row broke out.  Tempers were lost and feet were stamped, puppets were removed from the scene by two angry little boys. look at her downcast face!

Normally, I would bounce over, rescue the victim and give the others a piece of my mind.That of course, normally, leads to a pair(or two) of red, crying eyes staring back at you filled with recrimination. Its not a feeling I enjoy. Sometimes the words "It's not fair" ring a little true.

But not this time. I've been watching Naomi Aldort on YouTube and her short videos are amazing and practical and sensible. So I gave it a go - I tried validating (and found that I still struggle with this - i just don't know what to say), so I just kept repeating "yes, I understand that you wanted to do the puppet show." I said this a couple of times and thought - this is never going to work! But lo and behold,in about 5 minutes they all clambered onto the sofa for me to read aloud to them.

Naomi teaches respect. Respect for yourself and for those around you.I don't like it when someone shouts at me, so why on earth would they? Empowerment is the one thing more than anything I want to instill into the kids - the ability to listen to their own voices. I hope to give them the tools to stand strong and be individuals, to revel in their own uniqueness.I need to learn how to facilitate this, to turn myself into a listener, a respecter and not a shouter. I think my copy of the book will be well thumbed somehow but I am grateful for those sites  who pointed me in theright direction. Thank you friends.

This moment - where new shoes make you jump higher

Thrifty Thursday - It's as well .

being an Irish red head that I like dark colours. Let me explainwhile, despite my frugal tendencies I do like the odd new piece of clothing but I'm finding that clothes, even in our nearly new stores are really expensive and the whats on offer is not really me. So I went shopping.  At home. I hunted through some of the boxes in my attic and found items that have been damaged or where simply wrong for me to begin with.

 I added the black dye to this lot of above. Now I have a brand new Uttam skirt, Boden twinset and Monsoon silk trimmed top and Emma has a brand new airforce blue tee instead of a white one with sauce down the front- all for £5.00. How frugal is that!

It's as well I love airforce blue as well as black!Post a comment and let me know what your thrifty tips are!

Hello again !

Thank you for your patience folks. Ahh, reunited with my netbook at last. After major tech issues with my computer all weekend I am back up and running. I went to the library on Saturady morning to post from there but it was full of students on screens so I gave up.

Despite my internet issues we had a really good and busy time over the May holiday. There was of course lots of friends (for both Mumo and kiddos), family and food involved as usual. The kids and I made pizza, pesto, salad, chilli and coriander chicken on saturday morning for all the girls coming on Saturday afternoon.

 There is nothing like your female friends all gathered in the one spot to make a day feel special, so by the time the evening came I was talked out. We watched this on DVD and we all loved it and of course we would, the amazing set was built and all was filmed  in my home town!
I watched as Andrew was enthralled for the very first time at the beauty of music. The classical soundtrack has touched his soul - my ever practical, mathematical son has played the music on YouTube many times since the weekend. What a joy for me to see and what a privilege - the power of music.


I don't know about anyone else but my kids love family tournaments. It can be anything from chess to cluedo but this weekend the tournament was a simple memory game- of course no one wins or loses but there are huge cheers and much stamping of feet all round. Currently I am the loser much to everyone's delight!

Thrifty Thursday - a project for my favourite girl!

You'll know from my posts at the weekend that we cleared out Ems room. All the plastic toys went to charity, the donated dolls that were shoved under the bed, out of sight and mind ( that all  have lipstick and big boobs and more accessories than any woman I know). That left her with a baby doll and lots of soft toys but not a proper dressy dolly, if you know what I mean. I have often reminisced with Ems the story of my rag doll - she had brown hair, shiny black eyes and ruby red lips. Her hair wassoft and brown and straight and I thought she was the most lovely thing in the world. My mum bought her for my ninth birthday and I remember how excited I was when I opened the wrapper and saw this pristine creature smiling up at me.
I looked atmy beautiful daughter to day and thought she may be 8 and it may be 2011 but she is a little girl and little girls should be allowed to like dollies.
So an hour of time we spent, her and I. Cutting a pattern from a craft book, using an old cot sheet...

Meet Alexandra... Ems worked away industriously sewing the little skirt and pulled some ric rac through.She loved the fact that Alexandra has a bright face with open eyes and a tired, eyes shut face too.... just like her. She had knitted the green blankie for a previous project and we'd kept it over - how handy.

What a perfect hour, just the 2 of us crafting away, making something that will be loved forever, out of nothing but a few old scraps, its not perfect, its not Etsy standard but it showed her that nothing everything comes in shiny plastic, paid for my shiny plastic and that love costs nothing but time and effort. Thats a good Thursday, I think.

Phew... Its only Tuesday!

We didn't intend to walk the distance we did and had to stop for restorative buns half way throught but it was such a perfect, tranquil, sunny Irish day and trust me, there are few enough of these. The clouds were like huge cream puffs floating the sky - so close we could almost reach out and taste them. The hours flew by, skimming stones, hands in hands, daddy and daughter laughing about their silly jokes which amazingly only they understand.

This moment...There's nothing as good as new lego!

Thrifty Thursday - the big cull

My mother used to say that when the going got tough in my life I headed for the nearest bookstore. And it's true. All my life whether I had a bad day at the office or school, a row with a boyfriend or was just plain bored I headed for my nearest pile of books.It didn't matter whether it was Enid Blyton or Edith Wharton, fact or fiction i love a good book.  There's something about the feel of a book and the world inside those pages that envelopes you that is so very alluring. I could spend hours without realising it inside a book.  I'm not sure the kindle does it for me although I know lots of converts. The love of books also goes down the genetic line. At night the kids, Andrew especially can often be found under their cabin beds with a night light.  Harry Potter and the half blood prince in the current flavour of the day.
Parenting, is of course, a subject made for books.And i have read many, many books. My new favourite book is this one and I have noted to my sheer delight that some other bloggers are reading through the same one. I cannot recommend it highly enough. There is so much common parenting sense in those pages. Its a beautiful book for those who want to keep our kids as children, who want to preserve a way of life that makes them compassionate and imaginative. For those of you not initiated into this wonderful world, the down side is you have to throw lots of stuff away. I didn't think we had that much  -we're quite frugal -  the toys are fairly minimal, neither adult is gadget orientated, we don't do lots of music or furniture or ornaments. And then it hit me - staring me right in the face

and there's more, so much more. The cull must start now, I am hoping for courage (as I can't throw a book out) and ultimately relief  (for having the courage to do it in the first place) and lastly, space.  Will i feel less fettered - I'll let you know, And if you have done your cull - let me know how it went.

Weekending – at ease.

She dresses up,accessorises, she role plays and improvises. She is a ninja warrior today, she maybe will be Aladdin tomorrow and could be a wartime school teacher the next. The make up she has applied is used for her “plays”. The music that she is dancing to is sung from her own lips, her own creation. All is born from her imagination.

They lie, relaxed, laughing, joking,  bonded in sibling harmony. Foot against foot they air cycle. She is draped over another chair and shouts across when she wants (often!). A verbal game starts – but quickly dissolves into shouting and laughter. Then in an instant they flee, all at once, out the back door into the grey day, to bounce as high as these 3 can.

One person’s weeds are my luxury bouquet. The hallway abundant with nature’s seasonal bounty of hawthorn, buttercup, cow parsley and vetch that brighten our home, our hearts and our senses. 

A new package – giving this mumo ideas for new creations for the summer months that stretch ahead.

 

All the while I know that simply and surely we are all at ease with each other in the place we call home.

This moment...nourishment & kneading

Nourishment

I think if I had to take a photo that summed up my philosophy to life, this would be the picture I would choose.
The  vase with foraged flowers, my breadmaker and the ingredients behind the vase for homemade flapjacks. All are ingredients that believe it or not  nourish my soul in so many ways. Not just in the cheerful pattern of the 70's pottery but also the reusing of someone else's old junk that teaches the kids that in a world of  pound shops sometimes reusing is often better than "new". Second chances are and should be possible in our human relationships too.
Baking bread and healthy snacks are of course symbols of the nourishing that I can give my 3 little treasures-  good food that will not only sustain their bodies but those choices combine in an all over parenting style that will hopefully help them to build a real sense of self and the confidence that can stem from senstivity and empathy with others and the natural and human world around us.
  And so to the flowers - picked with love, because i love flowers,  on a country walk with dad and carried oh so carefully home to an exhausted  mumo. Produced with a flourish and an abundance of sheer joy.Their love and purpose - nourishment to my soul. Its often the little moments that are the most thoughtful and deliberate. I am indeed blessed and nourished.