Off to Camp

Just three more sleeps until The Mother Camp! It is getting very exciting here - different piles of stuff are dotted around - tent, sleeping bags, clothes, food and those things we might just possibly need (but will probably stay shut in the bag the whole time). Must remember cushions this time.
We are so looking forward to seeing old friends again, and meeting new ones. I have had my hair cut really short, so I look quite different.  It will be so good to see all the children again, almost one year on. I was looking for a photograph for this post and came across this one from my old blog. Reading it has made me look forward to this one even more - despite the fact that, as I type, the rain is crashing down so hard it is rattling the windows!
 The blogs will be on holiday for a wee while now, as on our return we will be heading up North again. I hope the weather is kind to you - have a great June. Best wishes to all this weekends' campers  - I know the green parents are meeting up too - hope you have a wonderful time.

May days

The month is slipping away so fast and I feel an urge to hold on to every moment.  We have been busy around the garden and with trips out and about.  Nothing special, but still very special. I have been deliberately leaving the camera in the house, so that I can be in the moment.  Nothing spoils that feeling more than the thought that 'this would be a good one for the blog!'  So this week I did not take pictures of the salt dough volcano we made and painted, the new worms we introduced to the wormery, James creating a garden of his very own, our very long and much enjoyed visit to the soft play centre, or lunch in my daughter's lovely garden, playing with my grandson, or any of the hundred and one ordinary things we have done.  These images, however, will ripen in my memory, but unlike that strawberry, which James is checking regularly as to it's ripeness, I can enjoy them time and again.
I did have a run round - well, a gentle amble round, the top garden to see what was blooming, and these I will share.

The heady scent of lilac wafts up the garden path - so sweet and delicious.  I always think of Walt Whitman's elegy to Abraham Lincoln - When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom'd. But not too much, as it is a very sad poem.  Maybe why it is considered unlucky to bring lilacs inside the house.

Apple blossom, delicately scented petals, scattered like confetti on the grass in the slightest breeze.  The macro effect here was an accident, but I quite like the misty ethereal feeling.

Bluebells along the path by the door.  What can you say about spring and bluebells?  Magnificent.

Aquilegia - a rampant self-seeder in this garden.  To think I used to carefully divide the clumps when I first moved here - now they grow everywhere.  Herbally, they used to be used to ease labour pains - and as a plant sacred to Venus, they were said to arouse the affections of a lover.  I think I can see why.

And  bed linen drying on the line - washed and now back on the bed, sun warmed and smelling so fresh and clean - no chemical 'softener' can ever compete with that.
Heading for a busy time right now - writing to do, a move in the offing (more at a later date), and preparations for The Mother camp next week. Take care and enjoy these days. xx

Losing track of time.

Where has the time gone?  Well, really we have been taking time to enjoy this wonderful weather.  Whole days  - stretching into long evenings are spent outside, just pottering, and before we know it, the light is fading and tired boys reluctantly agree to go to bed.

Lovely lazy days, taking the time to play - making friends with the bees and other garden creatures, who are also loving the sun.

Sitting watching the sun going down and listening to the glorious sound of the blackbirds' evensong - giving the container plants a cooling nightcap.  We are making the most of this early summer.  Hope you are enjoying it too.

Please help this Mother if you can.

URGENT ACTION ALERT - The UK Borders Agency is planning on forcing Sehar ...

For a long time I have been involved with a charity which helps destitute asylum seekers in this country.  I am constantly appalled at the inhumane way we treat those fleeing from fearful and potentially life-threatening situations.Particularly Mothers and Children.  It is hard to face the idea that in this country we incarcerate young children and babies almost on the whim of a Home Office official.  I know this is a controversial and contentious issue, but for humanity's sake, please at least read the link.
Thank you.

Booksharing Monday - Bottoms.

This week I want to share a new funny story called the Big Bottom Hunt, by Lari Don.  It tells the story of Ella and Sandy, who live in a seaside village, possibly in East Lothian or Fife, in Scotland.  They come down to the beach every morning to see what the tide has left them, and one day they find a telescope.  They deduce that it has been left there by someone, rather than washed in from the sea. but who does it belong to?  The only clue they can find is a bottom print in the sand.

They make a drawing of the bottom print, and go round the village asking people if their bottom fits.

They asked everyone they knew, "Is this your bottom?" But it wasn't anybody's bottom.

I especially like this bit,

It couldn't be Sandy and Ella's mum, because she never got a chance to sit down.  

Only a mother would know that!
Eventually they do discover the owner of the bottom, and make new friends in the process.
We enjoyed this fun book, and hope to be making lots of bottom prints this summer!
Check out more Book Sharing Monday posts, thanks to Alex at Serendipity Home School.

Doing the maths

James is very interested in cars and he can sit and play all day with his collection of mainly charity shop purchases.  The other day he announced he was going to make a circle shaped car park.  So he did (well, Mum helped  just a wee bit), but I was impressed that he knew what a circle shape was, as we have never sat him down and told him about shapes.

Later on I was getting on with some knitting, and pulled out the measuring tape to check on my (very slow) progress.  He was right up there holding the tape and asking how big it was.  Then he picked up a couple of stitch markers and looked at them.  "Mum!  These are number shapes!" he exclaimed.  And so they are - how did he work all that out?  Just by living, observing and noticing.  It is moments like this when I know it will be fine.
I am indebted to my friend Peggy for sending me this link.  It made me smile and nod my head, in a wry and knowing way.

More Beautiful Mamas

Tandem nursing at a nearby community farm today.  Such a serene and peaceful Mama and her adorable sweet babies.

A gorgeous new jersey calf  - all legs and huge dark eyes, sleepily staggered over to his mother for a suckle.

James wondered if ducklings got mummy milk too?  He thought it was a shame that they didn't.

Book sharing Monday - Gardening

A book we are reading an awful lot right now is Eddies Garden and how to make things grow, by Sarah Garland.  Eddie asks his Mum if he can have a garden of his own, and straight away they head for the garden centre with a list.  Back home they get digging, and in an amazingly short space of time they have dug up half their front lawn.  Seeds are planted in pots and in the plot and they wait to see what happens.  Soon enough seeds are sprouting all over the place and Eddie's garden is full of lush growth, fat pumpkins and sweetcorn as high as an elephant's eye - and a fabulous bean den too - which we are going to copy this year.

Grandad came around. He was so suprised he had to sit down. "Wow Eddie, your garden is amazing!"

And indeed it is (she says with just a hint of jealousy)

At harvest time, Eddie, Mum, Lily and Grandad sit down to enjoy the best picnic ever - vegetarian and high raw too!
Share in a feast of other books with Alex at Serendipity Home School's Book Sharing Monday.