Look Up - A Mantra I Live By

I find it fascinating to people watch, to wonder where people are rushing to or what they are doing.  I also find it fascinating to look skyward.  Whether it be the colours in the sky, the shape of clouds, wildlife fluttering by or even architectural interest... it all inspires me.  Ever since childhood I've enjoyed a good view and historical shapes in buildings.

Increasingly, largely due to portable technology the mantra of "Looking Up" applies ever more in all situations.  I find this spoken word by Gary Turk so powerful - if you haven't heard it before, please do have a listen...

Whilst I was observing a whole number of things in London, I noticed how much people were looking down.  Especially from a wheelchair this was a real issue - people walking would only notice that they were about to walk into me in the chair once they were literally on top of me - largely because they wore earphones and were looking at devices whilst walking down a busy London pavement!  

Whilst we were looking up though we could enjoy the amazingly beautiful architecture on the fronts of many of the shop facades.  Glorious.

One thing I would like to encourage in my children as they grow is the joy to be found in Looking Up.  To appreciate all the beauty in the world and engage with our environment.  Having experienced post natal depression and pain related anxiety, I have become more mindful of what helps to have a positive impact on my mental health.  Looking up, being grateful & appreciating the simple things and crafting to find that 'flow' state of mind are the most powerful lessons I have learnt.  Do you have any lessons you have learnt to help with your happiness?  What do you want your lasting message to your children or loved ones to be?  Please share - I'm always happy to learn more!

Take care until next time,

J9 x

May Half Term Round Up

During the week long break, we took the opportunity to holiday in London for 3 nights.  This took a bit of meticulous planning on my front, as I can assure you that traversing London Underground in a wheelchair is extremely challenging.  In fact, I came to learn that doing most things in London in a wheelchair was challenging.

We stayed this Premier Inn in Kensington, which worked really well.  We had a lovely big room, fantastic breakfasts - wonderfully friendly staff and a quiet space - which meant we all slept really well despite being in a shared room.

We had a few must do's on the list:

• Buckingham Palace
• Experience the Underground
• Natural History Museum
• Science Museum
• Harrods, and a
• Touristy Bus Tour

We had been visiting family in Buckinghamshire so we travelled from Milton Keynes to Euston on a fast track virgin train - which the children absolutely LoVED!!!  It was so fast it literally tilted on the rails and got us there in 25mins another exciting experience for the Littlie's.

When we arrived we headed straight for the hotel to leave our luggage and then headed straight back out to the Natural History Museum.

This is my favourite museum in London.  It was a different experience in a wheelchair again... and it was less busy because the sun was shining and the Queen was opening up the new Government and so many tourists were lining the streets elsewhere to catch sight of her.

After this we moved on to the Science Museum.  I have to say this suited my children so well - interactive displays, experiments to complete and lots of large scale exhibitions on view.

They absolutely loved it.  So much so that we returned on our last day instead of going to Hamleys!!!  Now that must mean success on the Science front.

For the second day I had booked a Hop on Hop off Bus Tour by Golden Tours.

This worked well for us with the wheelchair - although on occasion we double backed a few times on different routes, but we were sat down so it didn't really matter.  This was a fab way to see all the top tourist spots in London if you are unable to walk.  We could see it all from a great vantage point and I'd really encourage you to book one if you were doing this for the first time with children.

We had a GrEAT time and on quite a small budget.  I had booked the room as a deal months in advance, booked the Bus Tour and we were given a complimentary extra day free and a boat cruise, the kids ate for free at breakfast if one adult had a full English and we gathered for 'floor picnics' in the room from the local Wagamama each evening whilst watching the Britains Got Talent Finals. The days were tiring and full; the children's bedtime was a little later and our bedtime came a bit earlier so we all went to sleep at the same time.

We really felt like we weren't scrimping despite the London prices.  I had packed a load of snacks and drinks... The last day I really wanted the Littlie's to experience a bit of Harrods (we went to go and have tea in a cafe and found out that a slice of cake was £9 each!) So we settled for purchasing some cookies from the food hall and eating them in the picnic area of the Science Museum!!

All in all we had a wonderful experience during our few days in London.   I'm super glad that we did it and that the children got to witness our capital city.  We feel so remote from the city life that an insight into it can be really positive.  The Littlie's loved it... the memories are banked and a good holiday was had.

We came back happy but exhausted and had a really lazy weekend before the return to school and work on the Monday...

Due to my inflammatory flare this post has taken ages for me to write but even though we are about to say goodbye to June I've enjoyed looking back at our end of May!!!  I hope you have too.
Take care until next time,

J9 x

A Big Adventure

Little Lady returned home to me today after her first independent intrepid adventure.  She had been on school camp - leaving on Monday morning and returning home at 3pm today.  We had no contact other than a general text from school each day to confirm all was well.

It was the first time she has stayed away from me overnight excepting when I've been in hospital so it was a big step for us all.  An opportunity to grow and learn.

Of course she absolutely bloomed.  We prepared, packed, planned... all to ease this transition.

Little Man has really missed his sis.  They have a very lovely relationship of which I am really proud.  It is helped by the fact that she is not a girly girl.  By far she prefers to run, climb trees and be outdoors and so they have played together from the start with only 21 months between them.

She is home now and tucked up in bed.  Happy and exhausted.  Feeling all grown up yet grateful to be home.  I feel enormously happy to have my family back together under the same roof again.  I shall kiss her forehead before I sleep and revel in the fact that she is safely back with us.

For her a big step forward in emotional growth; embraced wholeheartedly and stored as a treasured memory of her childhood.

Slimbridge Sunday

Though we love living in Somerset, the major downside is that we don't have family living within less than a two hour drive away.  To maintain relationships we often plan trips which are partway between each others' homes.  That way, we only drive an hour each way and a family meet up is much more do-able in a day.

One such meeting took place last Sunday - fortunately a beautifully sunny, crisp winters day, at Slimbridge Wildfowl Centre.  In my former life I spent a few months employed assisting the Swanherd at Abbotsbury Swannery and knew lots about different wild fowl.  I am still very passionate about conservation and wildlife; although I had not visited Slimbridge myself I had heard good things about it so we were all really looking forward to spending the day there.  The children donned their borrowed binoculars and joined a whole host of 'twitchers' excited about what they could spot.

We met the Hubby's folks there, I hired a scooter (by donation - a fantastic option for mobility impaired people) and we set off to explore and witness as many different breeds of birds as we could.  We were certainly not disappointed.

Unfortunately, I have forgotten so much of my former knowledge - I simply couldn't mentally access the names of birds that seemed so familiar.  So frustrating!!  On the flip side, we all enjoyed looking them up in our bird books when we got home.  I loved that.  It extended the fun and the learning for us all.  Although... I think we could all spot these pink fellas - beautiful flamingos!!  There were actually three different types of flamingo there and we sat for some time watching their interesting antics.  They really did have personality!

I was really impressed by the accessibility of the site.  So much of wild terrain is beyond my access now and yes, if you wished there were more wild areas to visit; you could go further 'off road' or out towards the wetlands.  However, the main path accessed all the key areas of the reserve, were well maintained and it was a delight to share this completely as a family.  Some of the ducks and geese were tame enough to be fed by hand much to the Littlie's delight.  There were also a couple of play areas and trees to climb to burn off excess energy when needed - perfect.

The sheer diversity of birds and wildlife at the reserve was awesome.  I love the abundance of creatures in our world and the idea that just a fraction of the total are sheltering in this reserve.  I find it a very spiritual experience to witness so much beauty surrounding me.  There were a whole range of wildfowl (some of which are pictured above), three different types of Swans...

otters...

...and even some harvest mice!!

A very interesting, inspiring and wonderful day.  It was a brilliant way to enjoy a rare blue skied, crisp winters day and we enjoyed the whole day there.  We all left with lovely memories to treasure of time spent with family and I was reminded of natures beauty and abundance.  Happy Days.

Happy weekend folks, 

J9 x

The SANTA EXPRESS

Way back in October, when the grey days were upon us I decided that I would book a family treat. An experience to look forward to and to raise our spirits in the grey days leading in to winter.  I kept the actual experience a secret from the children - simply telling them that on that specific day in December we were having a special family day out.

And boy, it did not disappoint.  Perhaps I was most excited of all as it was my plan - although Little Man was a very close second.  We stood on the platform waiting with the beautiful steam train on a cold and crispy winters day full of anticipation.  It puffed in to the station and we chose our seats in a lovely, vintage carriage.

We enjoyed sherry and mince pies (and the children juice and chocolate) before arriving at our destination - another quaint station housing Father Christmas in his grotto.  I was a little disappointed at this stage - it was clearly a 'person helper' of the big man but the children were happy and went away with a nice little gift!  

Whilst we were at this station the children could get into the cabin of the steam engine and properly look at the gauges, fire and handles - very special.

The weather was kind - a beautiful winters day which added to our enjoyment as we were on our journey.  The Somerset countryside passing by our window at a beautiful pace.

On our return journey we played Jenga (Little Lady's gift from Father Christmas) and they built with the bricks.  It was a real joy to spend such quality time together in this way; momentarily taking our family back to a time when life was much simpler with less distractions.

This is another wonderful memory captured whilst the magic of Christmas is fully embraced and I shall treasure it.

This post was drafted mid December awaiting photographs (a cause for delay) and thus I've added them and pressed publish to record it here.  I do so hope you had a wonderful Christmas Time.  I've another catch up post to share soon plus lots more to share over the coming days,  Take care,

J9 x

To Bee or not To Bee?

Way back in July, we experienced an exciting phenomenon of a swarm of bees actually 'swarming'.  The scale of this was such that we actually heard the bees swarming before we could see them.

We later learnt that this was a Prime swarm meaning that there was a good number of bees (upwards of 30000) present around the Queen bee.

I've seen three previous sets of bees swarming but none on this scale.  The Hubby was a bit freaked out - it being his first swarming event to witness.  It really is an impressive sight.  I was too busy watching to run and grab my camera so I missed catching the cloud of bees to illustrate but they did physically dominate the space at the front of two large detached houses, the whole main road and front gardens to the opposite houses.  An awesome sight to behold.

As we watched, the bees gradually settled on a tree opposite our house.  I know from previous experiences that once they've settled they aren't dangerous being heavy with honey and it was at this point I could get up close and photograph them in their banana shape around the Queen and a chosen branch of the tree.

I called up the local Bee Association and they sent a Bee Keeper out to me.  This was initially complicated by the American Brood Disease restriction being placed on the movement of swarms within 5km distances but the Bee Keeper had a contact that would mean they could relocate the swarm into a newly managed hive locally - fantastic!!

The process of getting the swarm into a collection chamber wasn't too technical - the keeper simply knocked the heavy swarm from the branch into the box hoping that he'd knocked the Queen into the box.  He then left the box at the foot of the tree for the remaining bees to move into - following the pheromone of the Queen.  Then it was a bit of a sit and wait - watching to see whether more bees moved into the box and whether indeed he'd been successful in collecting the Queen or not.

Once it was established we'd collected the Queen they returned at around 8 pm when the bees were less lively to move them to their new hive.  Essentially the slides were stretched with fresh bees wax and were literally dripping with bees - they were so large in number.

This whole event literally felt like a sign to me.  Not one week before I'd been sat with the Hubby talking about a Bucket List of experiences that we'd each like to achieve while we are still able.  His contained things like: parachute jump, run New York marathon, exotic travel etc.  Mine included: starting to sell handmade products at craft fairs, going to Yarndale and bee keeping.  Yes - I have a huge desire (and have done since childhood) to manage my own Hive.  Due to this swarm I made the connections to start my journey along this path. Indeed, if I had had the right equipment I could have started with this very swarm back in July!  

So, my pledge to myself is that I will allow myself the time, give myself the confidence to attend Bee Association meetings and start an apprenticeship so that I will bring about managing my own hive within the next two-three years.  

There.  A definite pledge to myself.  I don't often prioritise myself - we don't as mums do we?  But in this case myself with my Little Man (who is an avid bee lover) will be proactive in making this actually happen.  What a sight to witness so closely though.  The inspiring magic of nature.

Ooooo the excitement!  Hope you have some excitement - in whatever form - however diverse - wherever you are in the world!

J9 x

May Half Term Catch Up

A crazy 3 whole weeks have passed since the children had a week long holiday from school - and the Hubby had some well deserved holiday from work.  Time is currently flying by - maybe it's the weather raising the spirits or enabling us to live each day fully?  But we certainly managed to pack a lot into that week.





The Hubby, kids and Grandpa took a trip to Wembley to watch the Queens Park Rangers (QPR) v Derby Play off Finals.  This was a huge deal for the men as avid QPR fans and the kids really enjoyed the pre-match excitement of getting dressed, kitted up and the journey.  I painted their faces to add to the sense of occasion.

Gladly they won - which made the experience for the children.  Free QPR flags were on each seat and so the children were delighted to wave them and chant!  Their first trip on the underground too.

After a short rest and repack at home, we then journeyed on to Cornwall to stay with my Mum and visit my siblings / cousins and those truly fantastic beaches.  This was a lovely relaxed time - the weather was very kind which always helps.

We went to Gyllanvese again - a popular choice for our family and my sister's - a good all rounder; shells, surf, sand, volley ball and great rock pools!  We arrived at 11 and didn't leave until 6!  It was a fantastic day with so much activity out at sea to watch.  We found out later this was due to the Fal River Festival - but we simply enjoyed watching the numerous, stunning yachts, sail boats and trawlers moving across the waves.

We're always a little reluctant to leave my childhood home.  The children adore my mum's village park and are very close to her partly because we see her quite often despite the miles between us - and partly because my Mum played such a huge part in their care whilst I was recovering post accident.  I love their relationship and it brings me great joy to see them spending quality time together.

There are four weeks left now until the children break up for the school summer holidays in our area.  I literally cannot wait - I do so love the summer hols.  I have to take time to restore my health in the meantime so that I can manage over those weeks but it is so worth it!  Little Man celebrates his seventh birthday this week so I'll pop in next week to share his birthday cake requests!!

Hope you have a happy weekend,
J9 x

Jurassic Discoveries at Kilve!

Bank holiday Monday saw us heading along the coast to Kilve for the first time.  I needed to hear and see the sea... I had a real yearning for that noise that sooths my soul.

We arrived at high tide as planned - promptly starting to search for fossils amongst the rocks and pebbles.  Pit stops for refuelling were of course essential!

We were surprisingly successful.  I've been to Lyme Regis before and not found anything so I'd fully prepped the kids that we may not find any fossilised life - and certainly not any dinosaurs!!

While the tide was high little man broke rocks for a full hour!! He knelt, selected a rock that simply 'could not be broken' and smashed away.  Little lady built towers of rock but was much happier once more of the beach became exposed and there was water to play with!

 

A bridge was an engineering challenge to accomplish...

 

As the tide went out the expanse of 'rock tables' like huge walkways became visible across the shoreline.

It was fascinating to see the folds of rock and the layers of minerals laid historically with huge boulders deposited sporadically by the power of ice and sea.  As the slate layers break away with the impact of the sea, the pebbles enclosed within are released with their fossilised remains.

The kids played in foot pools, built walls with gloop cement...

 

...and generally frolicked in a bit of water and fine sand as only children can.

Some fossils were too large to bring home:

...and we chose a favourite to display as a reminder of our day.

It wasn't as accessible as many beaches we visit and I certainly felt the impact of that later in the day pain wise but the effort was worth it.  Little man is a dinosaur fanatic and was super interested.  In our research when we came home we found out that a new species of dinosaur is discovered each week by Palaeontologists for the last 18 months- that's mind blowing - that the rate of discovery is still so  high. 

The Natural History Museum is a destination we need to visit - I'm planning for October half term if we can arrange it.  Although the entry is free to the museum the expense comes in the travel to and stay in London.  I really want to make it happen though.   I know I'll get so much pleasure just from watching little man's face and they'll learn sooo much in so many ways.

Kilve was a different experience for us.  Thoroughly enjoyable with lots of learning coming out of our finds!

Thanks for reading,
J9 x

Today I'm partying with:

 Today I'm joining in with these lovely blog parties!

Share your Cup Thursday

Simple & Sweet Friday

Pink Saturday

From the Farm Blog Hop Friday

Anything Blue Friday

It's like Learning to Ride a Bike

Well, actually that's exactly what it is.  My littlies have not been interested in bike riding.  Scooting has been the wheeled vehicles of choice through their early years to date.  We've had LoTS of fun scooting as a family - me on my mobility scooter following along as the kids set the pace!

That is until now.  On Sunday both of my lovelies learnt to ride their bikes!  Little Lady literally just got on it and rode off around the park - she was more than ready.

Look Mummy - I did it!!

Little man however, took a bit more perseverance.  He did really well keeping his motivation up.

 He kept trying and after about half an hour managed it independently.  Wow - did that little man beam with happiness and joy in his achievement.  We all had a tear in our eyes.

It was a joy to watch them both and almost tangibly watch their confidence and pride build within them. 

I'm certain this will open up a wealth of opportunities for our family time in future.  Me on my mobility scooter riding alongside my cycling loved ones.  All sorts of excitement yet to come.

 

We managed to pick Little Lady up a pre-loved bike from the charity shop yesterday for £15.  If only I could have captured the look on her face - such gratitude and joy.  At least it's in my memory bank ;0)  You can see the red bike above is a little on the small side and the new one is grey so we've got to girly it up a bit (as per her request).

 

Don't you love it when a plan comes together?!

 

Next time I'll be launching my Carry it Forward - See you here I hope next week for details!

Take care,

J9 x

Today I'm sharing in these fab parties!
Show and Tell Friday

Simple & Sweet Friday

Tasty Tuesday

Goodness.  It's been too long.  I'm still adjusting to being home alone and the pain from my disability has left me avoiding communication with the world!  I'm currently trialling different pills for pain relief and it always has a bit of a knock on on the things that I can get up to - hopefully it'll be worth it in the long run. 

Having said that though, I have been busy on the 'Pretty Filter' front.  I will endeavour to show you my crochet ta dah's and updates on my 'Pretty Filter' during May.  Promise.

Today, I wanted to share with you an idea that's been brewing for a while.  As a stay at home mum, one of the regular parts of my daily routine is cooking the evening meal.  I've become bored with the routine meals I've been cooking.  R has quite a sensitive palette and likes more traditional plainer food, which does restrict us a little.  I cook from scratch most nights but the regular favourites (spaghetti bolognese, risotto, jacket potatoes, roast chicken, fish pie etc) have become both boring to eat AND boring to cook!

I'd began to dread cooking.  And that's just not me.  I LoVE to cook -I like to bake even more. I  love the fact I can put healthy, nutritious meals together for our family to eat - and all on a tight budget.  But that feeling has been getting jaded.  Tired even.

So, I've set myself a challenge.  On Tuesdays each week I will commit to cook a 'new' meal and bring it to our family tea time.  This will include a main and a pudding (oooh naughty) and hopefully over time I shall increase the range of things R will eat and the range of meals I can add to our rotating repertoire!

So I've decided to launch this idea with Cornish Pasties (as a Cornish girl, I'm sure I can call them Cornish pasties even though I've made them in Somerset!!). 

I made a cheese, potato and onion one for R and the traditional pork, potato, swede (which Cornish people call turnips - yet the rest of the country calls each vegetable the opposite) onion, a small knob of butter to help make nice juicy gravy and a few twists of ground pepper.

 

Once you've added the ingredients you crimp the edges together.  This originated in Cornwall down the mines and was a regular part of the miners' meals.  Often stewed apple would fill up the bottom half of the pasty and the miner would throw away the generous pastry crimpings as they often had dirty or arsenic laden residue on their hands. 

 

 

You do have to add some fork holes for the steam to escape and then they don't usually laugh (split open) although you can use egg wash if needed to patch holes or bind the pastry edges together.

 

 

I haven't made pasties in a good few years so I was very pleased with how these turned out.  It was definately a positive start to adding homemade variety to our mealtime. 

 

For afters I've made a pineapple upside down cake.  I didn't look at a recipe - just made up a basic sponge mixture and put cut up fresh pineapple in the bottom of a pyrex dish.

Once I'd added a decent layer of the fresh pineapple I poured over the sponge mixture and baked.  We had it with custard and was lovely while warm.  I can tell you it definately tasted better than it looked!!

Tea time is a really lovely time in our family and I hope to add a bit more excitement to our Tuesday nights!  We've discussed it as a family and we're all 'on board' with the plan.  Hopefully Tasty Tuesdays will bring a bit of variety to our tea time and at the very least will get me reading through some recipe books that sit forever on the shelves in our kitchen.

Here's to planning our new meal for next week's Tasty Tuesday!!

Pop back later this week and I'll share little lady's bedroom Ta Dah!  Thanks for reading,
J9 x

Today I'm partying with these fabulous blogs:

Inspire Me Tuesday

Coastal Charm

Precious Moments

The last few weeks have brought so many precious moments to savour.  This post is simply a celebration of those moments so apologies to readers if it's a little photo heavy (I've been offline for too long!).

# Precious Easter Hunting

# Precious Family time at Centre Parcs

Little B:

And our redheaded Ru:

Close Encounters with Roe Deer:

 # Baking Bonding & Precious Creativity

# Enjoying Beautiful Flowers gifted by Precious People for my Birthday:

#Baking Character Bread Rolls... Mice, Sharks, Puppy Heads, Hedgehogs...Yum:

# Precious Childhood Moments

Ruby's Favourite Toy

Daisy Chain Making

My Boy loves this hat!

Boy Time

As you can see we've had some really lovely family time over the past few weeks.  I've chosen to update in one big post and it's crazy to see all that we've done.  I love that about blogging - it makes you appreciate all the little things we've done as well as the more memorable family holiday time. 

 

If I'm completely honest, I've struggled to settle back in to being at home alone during the day again.  It's been so quiet and a big adjustment... I've hidden away a little.  I'm sure another few days will help me to settle back into the rhythm of term time.  I've got so much more to blog about in April - Ru's room is finished and I've some vintage beauties to show you!!

 

Hopefully I'll make better use of my time again and catch up with all the wonderful blogs I follow and respond to your lovely comments, so come on- don't be shy!  Now I'm back with the world of the www I'll be popping back regularly again so watch this space!

 

Thanks for reading and take care,

J9 x