Roundup

I've been neglecting this blog for a while, because I have been extremely busy in Real Life. I spent last week preparing for a concert to raise funds for a local church, which involved singing and playing and hilarious merry-making with various groups of friends, and was great fun, if somewhat stressful at times! I've also had numerous birthdays, other people's events to visit and help at, meetings, groups, all the usual things.

 This past week, I have had plenty of bloggable thoughts, and time to write them, but have not been able to decide where to begin. So I thought I'd cheat, and do a quick photo roundup of where I'm at, and clear my head ready for the next proper post!

 I'll let this little hairy fella start me off. I'm not sure who he is, but my girls found him in their "Secret Hole" in the garden, and came running to fetch me. Looking online, the closest match seems to be the Ruby Tiger Moth larva, but if anyone can correct me, please do!

This was my Druidry homework for my Bardic Course (if you want to know more, see the link for The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, on the right).  I'm immersing myself in the element of Earth for a while, to see what it has for me. Now, I know mind-maps are good for getting the creative juices flowing, but this turned out to be a really fun exercise, writing down absolutely any old thing that came to mind relating to Earth, however absurd. It was quite interesting seeing which things just kept cropping up over and over again, which I won't list now because they mostly come under the category of 'you had to be there'.

It was my mother-in-law's birthday last week, and I made this needlebook for her. Anyone who knows how traumatised I was by my experiences in textiles and school, and how averse I have been to any form of needlework since then, will know what a huge achievement this was for me. And what's more, I had really good fun doing it! Turns out it's just as addictive as those silly free computer games, but it produces real presents for people. This was based on the pattern given at Rhythm of the Home by Linda of Natural Suburbia (see link on the right).

And here is the inside.

 

While I have been getting into my needlework, Dawn has also taken it up. I can't tell you what she's doing here, because it's also a Christmas present, but I can tell you that she loves it and it's gonna be great!

Finally, this was my supper. Shortcake made with Rapadura, which I eventually managed to source relatively cheaply online at this store. I expect you've heard of unrefined raw cane sugar. The trouble with that stuff is that it's neither unrefined nor raw. It is cane sugar, but has usually had the molasses heated and spun out of it till there's not much left. It's only because they haven't got around to making it white and fine that they get away with the 'unrefined' label. Rapadura is cane sugar juice that has been pressed out, dried, and made into crumbs, but has its nutritional content intact. With tinned fruit and evaporated milk, I think I've managed to make up for the cost of the sugar! It tasted good too.

That'll do for now, I think. I'll leave the ethics of hair and my frustration regarding the school system until another time. See you soon!

Staycation, The Sequel: Indoor Camping

A while back, a crafty friend of mine made these beautiful gifts for my daughters. They're Camping Books, and she instructed me to save them 'for their purpose'. Well, owing to all that rain and the car problems and so on, we haven't been camping yet, and now the season's almost over and we're not going to get another chance to camp this year, in the conventional style, so I thought it was time to try something unconventional.
A clothes horse, a dining chair and a large sheet took care of the tent requirement, and only consumed half the living-room, leaving the other half free for the fire (rolled up corrugated cardboard selotaped into log-shapes) and the activities. As Dawn struggled with building the fire, my dad got stuck into the role play and assured Dawn that it would settle down into a better shape once it was lit. Dawn looked horrified and explained to him with her Serious Face that we were not really going to set light to it, it was just pretend.
The first activity was a treasure-hunt. This was completely non-competitive, with the girls sharing a list (words and pictures, to cater for both the early-reader and the pre-reader) of things to hunt for around the 'camp-site'. There were conkers (which later became 'chestnuts' to 'roast' on the 'fire'), coins (for the Camping-Book games), corn-dollies (seasonal), toy ponies (no reason - they were just convenient and appealing), and individually wrapped cakes. All the treasure was pooled by the 'fire', and the cakes and coins were distributed evenly. Next came tea and, yes, you've guessed it, cake.
After the snacks, the girls got stuck into their Camping Books. Page 1 contains a space to draw your tent. Page 2 contains a space to draw any creatures you find. (The toy ponies made an appearance there, along with a spider, followed by various things Dawn could remember from real camping. My dad, whose house I live in, asked them please to not record the dust-mites.) Next are several coloured pages for free-drawing and writing, and then miniature board-games (using coins for counters and dice), and finally some camping-related sticker pages, full of beautiful drawings by my friend.
Whilst the girls were busy with this, I whipped up our traditional camping meal of sausages in buns, which we ate sitting around the camp-fire, along with some runner beans which we had 'foraged' from 'the woods' (our garden). We also had blackberry and apple pancakes, which was nothing to do with camping, it was just a result of the vast amount of fruit pouring into my kitchen at the moment.
Next came stories and songs around the 'camp-fire'. It was getting dark by now, so I drew the curtains and lit some candles to see by. The girls snuggled down in their sleeping-bags in the 'tent' and played with torches, making shadows and so on, while they listened to the stories.
Sadly, as we don't have much space in our house and we wanted our living-room back, the girls then had to drag themselves off to their real bed, but I'm pretty sure they'd had a good time while it lasted, and I know the adults certainly did. The best thing is, it was hardly any effort to clear up again afterwards!