You’d have to be Rupert Murdoch not to know that the Summer Holidays are upon us, meaning that the streets, shops, cafes, parks and restaurants are busier between the hours of 9 and 3 that they have been for the last few months. Neither PD nor I are huge fans of busy-ness, so the long vacation usually sees us spending more time at home than ever, crafting. As usual, 10 Ways to Play is primarily about crafting with things that you have lying … [Read more...]
Learning to Shine
The best thing about Dimples being born, aside from having her in our lives of course, was the trip to the hospital. To most women at the end of pregnancy this wouldn’t have even registered, but to me it was an adventure because for the first time in weeks, I got to leave the house. SPD, or Pelvic Girdle Pain as it is now better known, had rendered me wheelchair- and, for a good chunk of the snowy winter, house-bound for the best part of my third … [Read more...]
How to neglect your children
A negligent parent leaves their child in dirty nappies for hours without changing them. A negligent parent doesn't bother clothing their children from one day to the next. A negligent parent puts their child in their carseat/playpen/cot all day. A negligent parent puts themselves first. A negligent parent shoves their child in their cot and goes out clubbing. A negligent parent can't be bothered to treat their sick child. A … [Read more...]
Vintage Family Album
That bloody Tara Cain has had me all misty-eyed this week: her vintage theme sent me to the land of nostalgia, where everything is tinted pink. I have been blubbing like a whale since dawn. It may be down to the fact that I have been up since dawn that I have been blubbing. I'm not sure. Thus I give you me: before the internet, when all I cared about was playing, a bit of cake for breakfast and ideally a trip to the pool after the … [Read more...]
How to make a Weather Chart
If your house is anything like mine it is littered with bits and pieces of art crafted by children relentlessly. Some of it is fabulous and different and makes its way onto the Breakfast Room wall, the best pieces of which eventually find their way into a scrapbook. Some pieces are 'distributed' to Grandparents who dutifully display it on their fridges when we come to visit, but that still leaves a lot of work that I feel I can't throw … [Read more...]
The object of my affection
I imagine most people remember the day they were proposed to very clearly. I know I do. We argued. I could barely speak I was so angry with him. I stormed ahead on our supposed romantic walk, not knowing that the bad mood that sat on his shoulders was pre-proposal nerves. So when we stopped and he asked and I said "Yes!", buffeted by the winds on the February cliff-tops, I paid very little attention to the ring. My hands were bitterly cold … [Read more...]
The best bit about travelling
...is the coming home. I grew up overseas, which necessitated Boarding School and long-haul flights lugging my incompetent less capable brothers behind me. We flew to Cairo and Tirana, Larnaca and Brussels for every major holiday then back to Giggleswick, via Manchester or Heathrow or Leeds/Bradford. When I went to University, the travel continued, to France and Germany, The USA and Caribbean, until I found myself travelling for a living, … [Read more...]
