Mothering through the seasons

"Mama, all your children are growed up!" Sparkly Eyes declared the other day. This revelation came following her birthday, though obviously her grammar hasn't taken a similar leap forward. It's certainly a party month, with Lanky Dude's birthday party followed in quick succession by her birthday. Lanky Dude had a nerf gun mega battle for… Continue reading 8 June 2017

A picture from our holiday in North Wales. I always get to the stage just before we leave, when I seriously wonder if it's worthy going on holiday...packing camping gear, food, wet weather activities....and Sparkly Eyes unpacking behind me. But, finally we set off, and it was definitely worth it. I'd packed for wet weather,… Continue reading 22 June 2017

Half term last week whizzed by like a ride on a helter skelter, with the balance of busyness and down time firmly on the busyness side. This is a photo of the girls and two of their Boy Cousins who stayed for a couple of days (my sister then has our kids, so we each… Continue reading 3 June 2017

We checked our bees last Sunday; mainly looking for eggs. On our first check, a week previously there weren't any, which meant we had a "virgin queen" i.e. one that hadn't mated. We had put a queen excluder, a frame through which working bees can pass but not the queen, underneath the brood box after… Continue reading 28 May 2017

It’s been a tough week. Our much-loved grandparent passed away peacefully. It was a long and full life, and I believe he is now at home in heaven, but there are tears and sadness down here. One of the girl's behaviour has continued to be particularly challenging. I've really appreciated the solidarity and sound advice… Continue reading 21 May 2017

The girls are in a bubble bath, playing with Lego, and the boys are also playing with Lego in Lanky Dude's bedroom. I had planned to sort out the children's summer clothes, but, at the end of the week, typing away seems far more appealing! I love it that the boys still sometimes do creative… Continue reading 12 May 2017

We've got bees! I had a very excited phone call from my beekeeping pal on Saturday, to say another beekeeper had caught a swarm, and we could have it! So, she brought it to the field, and this morning we donned our bee suits (felt good after a couple of years unworn) and transferred our… Continue reading 8 May 2017

I thought I'd write a little about our chickens. At the moment we have motley crew of six. Three little brown ones, and three more unusual ones. We've been keeping chickens about nine years I think, and we started off with three beautiful hens, a white, a black and a brown one. We found some… Continue reading 5 May 2017

The end of our first week of the summer term. This is the last term when Lanky Dude will be doing his academic learning at home, and I want to make the most of it....he's been home-schooled since he was 4, having spent reception year part time at school. It's been such a special time,… Continue reading 30 April 2017

  Well, we’ve had holidays this week hence the extra time I've had to write. Also, I'm still excited about the fact that I can now put photos on here! We've generally and a quiet time, which I've obviously needed, as I'm only just now losing that permanent-state-of -exhaustion feeling. We visited Hard Working Husband's… Continue reading 22 April 2017