Lavenderhouse

To make you laugh

Living by the sea is invigorating.  There is a true gale happening outside today.  It is very wild and windy.  The combination of listening to the lively music that Juice, a great local Brighton radio station, play all day long and the sky going incredibly dark and grey called for a moment of .... I don't know what to call it but here is the result:-

 

Yes, nothing beats the warmth of a tea cosy on a wintery day plus it REALLY MADE US ALL LAUGH:-

1:-    We were all smiling for the camera despite the fact we are hiding our faces for a blog photo!

2:-    It is impossible to tell with a tea cosy on your head whether the self-timer has worked or not!

Have a happy moment, whatever you do.

A breath of fresh air

This morning looks like this.  All the windows are open letting in the fresh sea breeze.

 

We have an inset day here so all the kids are still on half-term.  They are making the most of having the last lazy day.  The sea breeze is definitely 'fresh' and has a chill to it that means sitting on the sofa in your pyjamas eating your halloween stash requires sleep suits, blankets and mittens!  

Challenges in Life

I was always convinced that my son had been born without the fear gene.  Then in France, I saw his delight at the thought of swinging off this rope but I also saw a flicker of being a little bit scared (something I have never seen before in him).

It took a bit of gentle persuading to have a go.  He had that look on his face like 'I know I really want a go and I can't actually leave here until I have had a go but this is scary!'.

So he negotiated the incredibly slippery mud on the bank with the help of my friend, Louise, who also lifted him up as he could not reach the rope.  I filmed and photographed his bravery - well you can't go too near yucky mud with a camera can you!  Anyone on the mud slipped over like Scooby Doo antics - very funny from a distance!

Whoosh!  His face was a picture when he finally surfaced from under the water.  We have just watched the video clips back again and again  - we smiled and laughed.  I could tell he was really proud of himself.  Hugging each other I remember the little flicker of fear on his face as I told him I was really proud of him and that he was so brave to overcome it.  Challenging ourselves daily I am sure is good for the soul.  It helps us draw on our bravery when times are tricky and can provide us with fab memories to laugh at.  Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee .......

To the one I love

The PC is fixed and we are back from a long holiday and I can blog again.

I love you forever x :-) 

Reasons to be cheerful about summer holidays #1 #2 & #3

#1 Sniffing freshly laundered clothing on a cuddly little child who tells me all day long he loves me - no wonder I miss them all and get so glum in September. 

#2 No pack lunches to make each evening, just simple cut up fruit, veg, crisps and cheese.  Obviously this will need rethinking as I don't think they will tolerate 7 weeks of snacks.

#3 Being outside - the parasol is there because of spitting rain not to keep the blazing sunshine at bay!  It really is a bit much when even little 5 year olds discuss the fact that rain clouds are coming when we are talking about going to the park!

I love the children being at home to help the helter skelter of life slow down - I enjoy taking a moment to take some photos of the flowers. 

The gardens, as we in blogland have all noticed, have been really great this year.  I still marvel at nature providing such vibrancy. 

Scattered bits/wits

The following is a joke as we are actually having a lovely summer holiday.  I can't believe two days have already whizzed by.

Photograph - scattered bits

Thursday = First day of the holiday.

Weather = Excellent sunny day, very breezy.

Activity = Visit to the best local charity shop, park and sewing.

Photograph - scattered bits from charity shop

I imagine .......

Last day of the holiday

Weather = blazing sunshine and heatwave OR extreme rain and gale force winds.

Activity = Visit to the charity shop with all the clutter we have accumulated.

Photograph at end of summer holiday - Mummy in a dark room with scattered WITS!!!!

Remember Open House is still on = please pay us a visit. 

Waiting and finishing

This week is partly about treading water, you know flipping about in limbo as we wait for the next Open House weekend.  This means the house is in turmoil as all the furniture is all in the wrong place - not a good move at the beginning of the summer holidays! However, it is also the end of the school year.  We can't wait for tomorrow morning when the sound of alarm clocks being ignored in the house wont pervade our happiness - amazing how even 6 year olds can be allergic to that irritating noise!



At the weekend I was given two gorgeous bunches of flowers.  Sarah gave me a gorgeous bunch of lilies that we placed in several vases around the house that really set off the Open House beautifully.  Sarah worked her socks off here AND gave me flowers.  What a lovely person - I am still recovering from her generosity of spirit.



The second bunch was from Ann - a bright riot of colour.  The bunch, as a whole fantastic, yet each individual bloom gorgeous too. 



So life has been like that this whole year.  Little bits of wonderment intertwined to make some very lovely times with friends and children.  Don't get me wrong there has definitely been the odd occasional invasion of horrible weeds that seem to choke the very life out of everyone but we have soon given that trouble the boot and moved on to better things.  An evolving life is so important.  It is so important to remember the children are growing emotionally and physically every minute and they keep me on my toes keeping up with their ever changing personalities.  In summary, though a very good end to a very busy school year and hopefully the start of a wonderful summer holiday.

Summer Loving

Isn't this just the most amazing poppy.  Friends have been very generous to me recently - some  letting me photograph their houses for projects that I have in mind, thoughtful emails - whether funny (Nadia) or informative with things that I might like (Greedy Nan - thank you - yes I do like it very much!) and friends like Katharine who have done us all a favour by recommending this fantastic book - A Little Love Song which is similar to I capture the castle - I have ordered it and cannot wait to read it. 

Yesterday my husband and I grabbed some time for ourselves in the current madness of life.  We drove through the countryside and had lunch in a quintessential English pub.   I love having my kids at home but there is something magical about having a grown up lunch with my mate, holding hands across the table and listening to bird song and summer roses perfuming the air. 

We had tea on the roof terrace again and remembered the marshmallows!   A BBQ really is complete with a googey stick of sweets.

The wind had picked up last night so we put the windbreak up from deckchair stripes and it really looked wonderful.  The nights are so light at the moment that we haven't had to light the lanterns yet - that brings a whole new atmosphere to the roof terrace.   We love to put cushions and rugs out and stare at the stars in the August (it was completely rained off last year so fingers crossed.)  Have a lovely day!

 

Midsummer Magic

About a hundred years ago (!) my husband and I got engaged on midsummer's day.  This weekend we went out for dinner in Brighton and then wandered round watching the eclectic mix of people who were either staggering around and/or just enjoying themselves.  There was lots of young love and passion about .... something to be celebrated.  

I am so aware that the best time of year for sitting in the garden or on the beach in the evening is right now!  I long for a brief blast of the hot sun that we had at half term.  I indulged in sangria on Friday evening and lots of ice ....

Andrew and I sorted out the pot plants on the roof terrace and the children tidied out their shed (their equivalent to a tree house).  Then we lazed, drank wine and had a BBQ.  A perfect end to a midsummer's day.   This was made even better by watching 'I capture the castle'.  The book is our current bookclub read.  I love it like so many of you out their in blogland.  It is a great romance, some of it is very funny and there are engaging characters in it such as their bohemian step mother who is extremely young - Topaz.

 At one point in the film the father is locked in with a typewriter and bare essentials of bedding and food and made to write 'just anything'.  I love the idea that even then, the idea of being 'unplugged' from the outside world could kick start our creativity (I realise the contraindiction in terms for me, as I am obviously tapping at the keyboard to blog this!). 

  

I have been felting this week and enjoyed making this bag amongst other pieces of felt.  Felting is definintely like bread making, some nice kneading involved.   Sarah and I made felt the other night as there was a complete lack of films to watch at the cinema.  It was very therapeutic and she is always very good company - fanx Sarah!

I need to rethink the handle on this but was desperate to finish the bag.  Felting is definitely a marmite textile.  You either love it or hate it.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!  I am going to hopefully run some workshops so if anyone is interested then please let me know - I am based near Brighton. 

Welcome to Spencer!

Did you have a wonderful weekend?  I did!  I missed my family greatly though and worried and fretted about leaving Rafferty home alone as we all went away this weekend.  We have a wonderful cat minder who came in and gave him a hug and fed him - her name is Christmas - how fantastic is that!  The children and my husband visited Grandparents and sat by burning logs in the garden until 2 am in the morning - OMG! = boy am I going to pay for that one.  I think I will need a cattle prod to get at least two of them up in the morning.  Fortunately Pasha is related to the blackbird family and is up at dawn!

I escaped to my friend's house, which is right on the beach but has an amazing garden too.  We sat on the terrace, drank wine, chatted and knitted for the whole weekend!!!!!!!!!   Yes - I finally learnt to knit care of the very talented Claudia. 

The garden was an absolute riot of colour, full of cottage garden flowers but dominated by splendind poppies.  I knitted in variations of red and marvelled and the brightness and beauty of gorgeous flowers around me. 

I have been gearing up for Open House and last week enjoyed making some mosaics.  As you know, the whole week came to a grinding halt with the death of our lovely kitten, Ferris.  I immediately went on the search for another kitten as I felt a new focus would definitely help the children deal with his loss.  I wish I had taken a photo of the list of names that everyone has been thinking up for our new kitten.  William was suggested - yes, so Willy could be shouted loudly outside the front door, or Bogey - yes, same reason but finally we have decided on Spencer for this perfect little chap.   I'm not sure how much Rafferty understands.  One minute his brother has gone and then next minute a mad little ball of ginger fluff has appeared  ...... as my husband says - I don't think they think about things the same way we do actually!