The time has come...

I have enjoyed writing about my garden.

Writing about my failed attempts at being 'a creative'.

Writing about the 'treasures' I have found in skips...

It was a nice way to spend my evenings.

Alas...my evenings are now no longer really my own to do with as I wish.

Such is life with a Little One.

And a dog.

I don't know if I mentioned that we re-homed a dog?

She is mostly Red Setter, mixed with Springer Spaniel and Border Collie.

So very very...energetic.

She was a teeny tiny puppy no bigger than my foot when we re-homed her from Dog's Trust - she is now almost a year old.

The Little One and The Dog are thick as thieves.

I don't think that the cat will ever forgive me.

My first insult to the poor old cat was bringing Little One home from the hospital.

Then a few years later a dog turned up.

I often feel that she is planning my slow agonising demise when I catch her staring at me from up high somewhere.

Life is still very much all about having 'Muddy Boots'- just no longer from gardening - more from walking The Little One and The Dog through the woods.

I no longer really 'garden'.

I struggle to find the time (and the energy).

I rarely have the time to read blogs, let alone write one.

So I feel the time has come to say 'Good Night' a final time.

I hate it when I enjoy reading a blog...and then all goes silent and you are never really sure if the author has gone to live on the moon, joined the circus, or got lost in the Bermuda Triangle...

So Thank You for reading, Best Wishes and Good Night x

Guardians of the Woodland...

We went for a walk through the local woods at the weekend.

When not keeping an eye on The L.O who seemed intent on trying to crawl into badger set holes or plummet down any steep drop he came across, I was enjoying looking up at the tree canopy, the dappled sunshine or the faces on the tree trunks...

Yep...there are plenty of faces on the tree trunks if you look hard enough...

I thought this looked a little like Stewie Griffin from Family Guy...

If you have ever noticed a face in a cloud, a piece of toast or indeed a tree trunk then this psychological phenomenon is known as Pareidolia. 

It is the tendency of the mind to discern meaningful patterns in vague or random stimuli.

I have spotted a polar bear, an angry monkey and an umbrella in the grain of the wooden floorboards in the hallway.

It's fun looking for hidden faces.

I shall make more of an effort to seek out The Guardians of the Woodland next time we go.

Goodnight x 

To hoard or not to hoard, or purge and purge again...

I have too many books. So so many books.

I have had to box some up and put them in the attic so I could free up some shelf space for The O.H's ever growing vinyl collection.

He has too many records. So so many records. 

LP's and singles, tape cassettes and CD's. 

The L.O has so many cars. So so many cars. 

Tractors, Mini Coopers and Ice Cream Vans galore. 

We have one of those big ugly square bookcases from a well known blue and yellow flat-pack superstore...

The one we have has 25 'squares' or compartments if you like, and it is literally straining under the weight from all...the...stuff.

I plan to get up early tomorrow morning.

Have a cup of coffee and a slice of peanut butter on toast and let rip on the bookcase.

Everything, and I mean every single thing is coming out and the whole unit will have a good clean. 

I am going to be really strict and try to split all the books into two piles. 

One half I will keep.

The other half will be donated to a charity shop.

It has to happen.

It's fine.

I really don't need so many books. I'm going to join the local library.

I hope I will avoid the temptation to purchase any more unnecessary books.

Although the two Pat Hutchins books (Good-Night, Owl! and Clocks and more clocks) I've just ordered to add to The L.O's library don't count though...Shh. 

When I suggested to The O.H that he could probably thin out his vinyl collection by half he let out a short sharp gasp so I don't think he was on board with that suggestion somehow.

I'm going to reclaim the space on the bookcase so I can store my growing collection of empty toilet roll and kitchen towel tubes so me and The L.O can spend time together making things...

I have also been saving them to plant seeds in this Spring...

 I'm going to get out all my art materials, have a thorough sort through of everything.  

Finally get around to disposing of those dried up pens, rubbish rubbers and pencil shavings lurking in the bottom of the containers and put them all back neatly...

It's going to take a couple of hours, but hopefully, by the end it will be an organised glorious home for all of our hobbies. 

I always imagined I would be more crafty with The L.O, but the truth is when you can't find anything to make something with the excitement wanes and the moment passes.

I want to get the bookcase set up so I can easily find anything from pipe cleaners to P.J Harvey or Postman Pat. 

Project purge has begun...

Goodnight x 

Always...

A while back I remember reading something someone somewhere had noticed about the very first question Snape ever asks of Harry Potter...

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Asphodel symbolism: My regrets follow you to the grave.

Wormwood symbolism: Absence and/or bitter sorrow.

The theory put forward was that what Snape was actually saying...was...I bitterly regret Lily's death. 

In Greek mythology, Asphodel was deeply associated with death and graves.

It was part of the crown upon which Persephone, the wife of Hades - ruler of the underworld, wore upon her head.

Asphodel can also be traced back in history as a supposed cure for snakebites.

A certain wizard who shall not be named was also associated with snakes.

And wormwood, as it turns out, isn't just associated with absence. It has often also been associated with moon and lunar deities, particularly Artemis. 

Deer were the only animals held sacred to Artemis.

Lily Potter's Patronus was a deer.

As was Snape's.

I am very saddened to have learned about the passing of Alan Rickman. 

Someone I have had much pleasure from watching on the screen for many a year in many a character.

I absolutely love the symbolism and often overlooked language of flowers.

If I were to offer up a posy of flowers to Mr Rickman it would have to be Campanula.

Farewell x 

The stars look very different today...

Thank You for being my soundtrack on many a morning, noon and night.

Farewell Starman x 

Don't pull the wool over my...

Greetings.

My last post was about a little shoe rack.

After much sanding and cleaning, I got to work with my ball of brown wool and here is the end result...

Shoe rack to book rack. 

I think it looks a little...odd...but it took absolutely ages to wrap the wool around and around and around and around while The L.O was going around and around and around and around my feet trying to pull the wool off as I worked that I shall never part with it just because of the sheer determination it took to finish the damn thing.

I love rescuing things from skips.

It makes me happy to give a new lease of life to something someone else would just throw away.

I wasn't really too sure what I was going to do with the shoe rack before I had the idea to turn it into storage for books, so when I popped it between the two sofas the idea came to me.

The L.O was kept occupied for a good twenty minutes once I had finished by taking out all the books and then putting them back in again.

It's actually been really useful first thing in the morning as I can pop him in front of it so he can look at some books (usually upside down but hey ho) while I get breakfast started.

It's funny how you can have an idea, but sometimes, it just doesn't exactly go to plan.

Well, that was exactly the case when I decided to make a toy for a friend who had just had a baby.

I have never made a toy before. 

I wasn't even sure what I was imagining, but all I knew was that it was going to involve crochet squares.

I have a huge pile of crochet squares left over from a blanket I made ages ago.

I had a vague plan to stitch them together to make a sort of soft cube toy...thing.

Out came the sewing box...

All was going well. It was starting to resemble a cube and then came the stuffing it part...

Now, I forgot how much wool stretches.

So of course, I stuffed, and it got bigger. And bigger. And bigger still.

I realised if I didn't stop stuffing it was soon going to be big enough to use as extra seating around the kitchen table.

So I stopped and finished up.

Then I thought if I sewed some thread into heart shapes on the sides perhaps that would make it look more toy like...

It didn't. It still looked like a big soft square thing with some badly sewn heart shapes on the sides.

Suffice to say I didn't end up giving it to my friend as a gift.

A big soft square thing with some badly sewn heart shapes on the sides, just what every new parent needs...

It is now fondly called 'Stuffy' and is thrown around with much gusto by The L.O.

I would have liked to have seen my friends face had I presented her with the big soft square thing with some badly sewn heart shapes on the sides though...

Might try my hand at making my own clothes next...

Goodnight. 

Rainy Sunday Afternoon...

It has been a really dark and miserable afternoon.

The O.H and The L.O both went out for a walk this morning while it was sunny and nice.

I stayed home and got on with some chores while listening to the radio.

When they returned we all sat down to lunch, and then they went off for a nap.

I decided to do something creative, as I have not made anything in ages.

I rescued this wonderful retro shoe shelf from a skip last year.

I rang the door to ask if I could re-home it, and was met by a woman who laughed and couldn't possibly imagine why I would want it when it was so old...

In all honesty and as usual I didn't actually know why I wanted it, or what I was going to do with it.

I just couldn't bare the thought of it being sent to land-fill for no very good reason.

This afternoon I finally had an idea of what I could use it for.

I spent last night sanding it down and cleaning it up. I was considering painting it, but I liked the feel of the wood and the colour and grain so I left it natural.

I then went on a hunt for a ball of wool...

And got to work...

I have not quite finished yet, but I very much enjoyed doing something creative while listening to the rain for an hour or so.

I watched a Bumble Bee take cover from the rain in the hedge.

Spotted a squirrel digging around in one of the beds again. I'm sure they have been nibbling the crocus bulbs.

There was a large patch in the garden when we moved in, and the patch is getting smaller and smaller with every passing year.

Not sure if you are supposed to lift and split crocus bulb clumps like you do snow drops... 

Made a vegan curry for dinner but forgot to add peas.

Now off to run The O.H a bath with some lavender and geranium oils because he feels 'all achy' apparently. 

Yep. I bet it's that sort of ache you get when you spend an afternoon with a very active, very fast and very curious almost one year old...


Muddy Boots.