Our Special Place

Living in town means that we don't have a garden, we have a small yard and are on a very long allotment waiting list. At times this can feel really difficult but we've come to realise how lucky we are because we have several parks in town and we can walk down to the beach (admittedly not one of Cornwall's most beautiful beaches but sea and sand none the less). We also have a special place to go and look at nature...

these are marshes nearby that are looked after by Cornwall Wildlife Trust, we can walk or bike there, depending on our mood and we try to get there three or four times a week.
We draw, photograph, take notes, sit and drift, observe, birdwatch, notice the changing seasons and walk. It really is a beautiful place and has helped us to realise that we don't have to own a piece of nature to experience it fully.
Not having a garden means we can't just throw the children outside alone so we have to make time to go with them into nature no matter how busy our day might be. I'm very aware of all the nature time we adults would have missed if we had a garden, I really think we have benefitted from what seemed to be a huge problem when we first moved here.
I'm not saying there aren't days when I wish that I could just say 'go play in the garden' while I get on with my sewing in peace and sometimes I don't want to go and get cold or wet when the children do! But, when I've put a bit of effort into going outside I always appreciate it, and we can always come home to hot chocolate. What I love most about this place is that I know we wouldn't visit it nearly so often if we had a garden, but we would be hard pushed to have a garden as amazing as this. Perhaps we put to much emphasis on owning our own space, perhaps it would be better if we supported people like the wildlife trusts and the rspb in creating and maintaining places like this that we can all enjoy.

back to normal

The thankyou cards are gradually getting made, written and sent

Both T and A want to learn to sew and these are T's materials
and his finished project. This began as an MP3 holder but due to my measuring it became a home for Soot the little ninja (brought back by dad from the V&A)
Good weather means we're back outside
and some of the family are even swimming (but only the crazy ones)
All in all we're continuing our home educating journey without paying too much attention to the changes that may happen in April. Following our interests because we all believe that if you're not interested you just don't learn.

The most luxurious pair of socks I will ever knit

Recently, J worked in London and I suddenly realised he was working in Islington, now to any yarn lover 'Islington' rings bells because it is the home of the luscious 'Loop'. So when he asked what he could bring back for me from the big city I directed him to Loop to bring back the most luxurious sock yarn I am ever likely to be on the receiving end of.

Sadly I was so excited by the yarn that I forgot to photograph it as a skein (we all know how much yummier wool is in a skein) but here is my handmaiden Casbah, the photograph cannot do justice to how utterly soft it is and how scrumptious to knit, I truly never want to stop knitting these socks

He also brought back some yummy soft alpaca by berrocco and although it is a little overshadowed by the casbah (and the photo is a little overexposed) I am still excited about having a gloves project lined up which I will share later.

So for now, all I want to do is knit. But there's home educating, sewing and all that other stuff to fill my time so the knitting is having to come along slowly but gorgeously

I got this book for christmas

I got this book for christmas and I love it

Poppy Treffry (the author) is local, in the next village and her stuff is gorgeous. I wanted to learn how to use my machine for embroidery as I'm slightly scared of it (at heart I am a hand sewing girl!)
A, as always, loves the egg cosies but she hates boiled eggs. Every so often she tries to like them because she loves egg cups and cosies but it's just no good, she really doesn't like them.
So I decided to have a go at this lovely purse, I love the unfinished look of the flags and it's so solid seeming.
Well I rushed in, as I am prone to do, and didn't really look at the instructions properly at first and as a result my proportions are a little out and one set of my flags ended up upside down in the wrong place. But I still love it!
If you buy this book I recommend reading the instructions carefully because there are lots of little tip boxes scattered around and it can be a little confusing if like me you tend to rush in. But the projects are lovely, picnic blanket, cushions, curtains, coffee pot cosy and plenty of good advice on how to use your machine for embroidery.

quilt or skirt

I finally get around to blogging the christmas making! Most presents, of course, got sent without being photographed but this one is still in the house, being modelled by it's owner T.

I used the 'Bend the rules' lap quilt as a model and just changed the dimensions to suit T and then he chose some scrummy fabrics from fabric rehab (which I completely and utterly adore)
And, although it's hard to see here, the backing fabric is skull and crossbones just in case it was seeming a little fluffy.
I used a thicker wadding which was a nightmare to get through my machine (my machine is getting a little tired these days) but after a lot of swearing it went through and the mistakes are fairly hidden, mainly due to the thick wadding. I've found Amy Karol's Bend the rules a great book for adapting patterns to suit us, a really good beginner's book too.

blogging and home educating

Moments like these remind me of the freedom of home educating, we don't have to wait to see if the school is closed, we can just go sledging!

I've just looked back over last year's blog posts, and although they are sometimes sparse, I am just loving having a blog. I love being able to look back over the year and see what a great year we had. I love sharing our favourite moments, sometimes exciting, sometimes everyday. So my belated new year's blogging resolution is to blog more consistently and photograph more consistently (or be more consistent with regard to camera batteries).

I will blog more about our home ed adventure as this year is going to be important to all of us home educators because of the attempt by the labour government to give us less freedom in bringing up our children. We will see what happens.

Snow in Lincolnshire

Just a few photos of our lovely stay in Lincolnshire, plenty of snow for us Cornwall dwellers who hardly ever see any!

strange and....

beautiful creatures being made

Beautiful sunsets

sledging

And we have come back to snow, college closed, roads blocked and general snowy excitement, unusual in Cornwall.

In the next few days I will get a few sewing and crafting bits up and a look at a new sewing book.