The year that was 2012

This is the first time I've logged onto the blog since my last post on Christmas Eve, and so much has happened since then.  Christmas had it's ups and downs this year, and ended on a very sad note on New Year's Eve with the death of my Grandma.  Just less than 6 months since my Grandpa died, so a really tough start for 2013.  And somehow we've made it to February already, and I really felt I must get back and post something about the other big changes in my life.

The day my Grandpa died, was the day that I first started thinking about leaving my job to focus more time on my local community, and the day my Grandma died, was the day that I officially left the council...funny how these kind of things sometimes happen.

So far 2013 has been about finding a new rhythm.  

The kids have changed to four mornings at nursery and we are having fun-filled afternoons with plans - to ensure we do stuff.  We're hanging out with their friends more, got a year's membership to the aquarium (just a 15 mins walk away!), playing in the park and on the beach, visiting the library and grandparents, and baking cakes and painting.  A really precious time as the first day at school looms this September for my eldest.

I'm also self-employed and currently doing a day a week for the CRED Foundation and taking on responsibility for all their finances.  I love what the charity stands and strives for, and it's great to have flexibility and more freedom in when and how I work (although I miss my collegues at the Council and the heating, although am relishing the ICT freedoms ;-)

Then there's obviously the joys of life, running a house and a family and attempting to find some time to run.  Along with making time to focus on encouraging community in the local patch.  No giant leaps there, just little steps (which is how I think these things normally pan out).  So far the little steps have entailed:

• gritting the pavement on our street before the snow hit - thanks Council for the free grit bins you leave dotted round the city for us to use on pavements...however, it appeared to not make a blind bit of difference...grrrr!  Had good conversations with neighbours whilst doing it, so not a totally wasted effort
• chatted with some gardeners in our park about why the kids hide and seek bushes had all been chopped down, and have the name of someone at the council to contact to see how we can influence what goes on in our park, going forward
• am planning an evening for local neighbours linked with International Women's Day (8th March)
• am starting to explore logistics of a community lunch in the park for early summer
• getting along to the council's budget consultation meetings
• drawing up plans for the front yard/community herb garden
• and actually found some time to attend some Governor training sessions to help with one of the local schools/nursery/children's centre, where I'm a Governor.

So when I write it down...not bad going considering ;-)

Now the dilemma is whether to carry on this blog.  I've written less in the second half of the year, and it was a blog for 2012, so part of my feels like signing off.

The other part of me has quite enjoyed writing something down and looking back over the year's journey, so would like to carry something on....but what?  A new blog?  Called what?  Focused on what?

So for anyone that's reading this, feel free to let me know any thoughts/views if you have them.  I'm throwing it out there, and perhaps this will be my last word...

Cow Day 5

For those that made it to Cow Day 5 today, here are the answers to the quiz:

How many stomachs has a cow got?
4

How long does the average cow spend eating each day?
6 hours

Old cows in India sometimes have their own nursing homes.
True

How soon can a newborn calf walk on it's own?
1 hour

How many days does it take for milk to get from a cow to the shop?
2 days

A cow can produce 10,500 pints of milk a year.  How many cows could the houses from here (44 Duncan Road) to Albert Road need?
2 cows (1 cow can supply about 22 families)

So what is Cow Day?

Five years ago a friend was trying to build a more wholesome less-consumerist component into the kids festive frenzy, and Cow Day was born.  So for one day each December they have an open house and try and raise enough money to buy some animals for families in the two-thirds 'majority' world who need it.  People bring cakes to sell in the cafe, Waitrose provides veg for a great soup lunch, people bring games, come in fancy dress, get involved in a promises raffle and much more.

Last year's 'Cow Day 4' involved 23 households/65 people and raised an impressive £375 that equated to 15 goats for families who needed them (all the cows were sold out!), purchased from the Oxfam present catalogue.

Fun in the Woods

Can you guess what it is?

  The kids and I had a great couple of days at Grandma's earlier this week.  

And with the sun shining, the local countryside, and a bit of creativity

the kids had an amazing time!

The first afternoon we turned a IKEA storage box into a paddling pool, 

and had fun with water, paint brushes, stacking cups, kitchen funnels and grass

 (a real treat when all we have is a paved back yard at the back of our house).

 

And the second day we did a 3km wood walk to a local farm 

(with a few animals to see, a small play park and a cafe).  

 

6km and a 3 year old aren't normally a great combination, 

but 

we played pooh sticks in a ford

spotted insects

investioated a dead frog

saw tiny piglets

got chased by chickens, and chased chickens (guess which child did which!)

jumped in muddy puddles

took photos of amazing fungi

picked blackberries

and chased each other up slopes.  

A priceless day!

The photo at the top just shows the top of this fungi

End of the Summer Update

What summer?  You might well ask! 

We ended August off well yesterday with a day out with the Smiths.  We rode our bikes to the Hayling Island Ferry, had a boat trip across and then cycled along to the beach near 'Inn on the Beach'.  Had a great time playing in the sea and on the beach and enjoyed a picnic lunch and a BBQ Sausage kids tea, before cycling back to the boat and then on home.   A great local day out!  (So much richness, so near by!)

Just 5 more loads to go!

I've made it through the mammoth pile of washing after Greenbelt (I truely appreciate the washing machine and love it lots!!), washed mud from wellies and the buggy and just about got the house back to normal.  I'm now keeping my eye out for a bigger tent to get on pre-loved websites or through anyone we might know.

I've got a bit further on my running schedule and Andy also took up running this week.  It's a great free exercise, and I'm amazed at the amount of people paying to be shouted at military-style, down on the seafront and common to get fit.  Give me a quiet run any day!

Money

Changing bank accounts is progressing (slightly slowly), and the kids accounts are all set-up.  Our new Co-Op account is complete, and I'm now just waiting for their switching team to work their magic on all our DDs etc.  I'm now also starting the task of setting up our new ISAs, now I've got a new current account to link them too.

I've registered for a water meter, which should be installed in the next 3 months.  I doubt we'll get any savings from it, but I want to have more connection with this precious resource, and have more responsibility over how we use it.  

Giving

I got a letter from World Vision this week, saying that our sponsored child had moved away (not uncommon as families move for work or to be nearer other family members), so now we have to get a new child to sponsor.  I found it really sad news, and it brought back quite a few miscarriage emotions.  Irrelevant of the money that we send, M & I have sent letters and pictures to Grace, we've prayed for her, and we have her picture up in our bedroom and kitchen, and have spent lots of time talking about where she lives and how our lives are different.  It feels like a real loss, and I can't bring myself to take her picture down.  Even if the money can't get it her, our prayers can still.  But it does feel rather like losing a child again, and yet again I realise that I'd be useless as a foster parent and adoption is definitely more for me.

September

I have one more week off with the kids, which will include a visit to Grandma's.  And then it's back to work and nursery routine.  I'm also feeling the need to start planning Christmas gifts as when you make them all, you really do need a big lead time, so that might be quite a focus this autumn.  And I need to spend some time thinking about some changes for 2013 (watch this space), not to mention deciding on a school of M for Sept 2013.  How time flies! 

Mud, mud, glorious mud!

http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/

So I'm back from my first Greenbelt experience with kids!  We made it and both kids had a brilliant time.  M can't understand why Daddy didn't come, as camping is the best!  We're all missing it today, and we definitely found so much richness in having less around us.

There is something so wonderful about camping (even in the mad wind and rain that we had!).  Living outdoors, breakfast on the grass, cooking on a small stove, friends within peg throwing distance, small spaces in the vast outside space!  It's been quite hard coming back.  A hot shower was good, although it did feel quite strange to be that clean (I can see why people in the past weren't convinced it was the way forward), there's quite a comfort in being a little bit dirty.  And my soft bed seemed obscenely comfy, and I really missed being snuggled between my two gorgeous children all night.  I'm also not convinced that our electic kettle boils any faster than our gas stove kettle.  And I can't just open the tent flap and let the kids out....they'd be squashed by a car too quickly!

We also had such great shared experiences during the days there.  An amazing show of 'The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark' by the Blunderbus Theatre Company; Duggie Dug Dug; Playsongs Plus (I highly recommend their CDs for pre-school kids); Weapons of Sound (including lots of dancing in mad rain!); drumming workshops; circus skills; Shane Claiborne; Ruth Valerio; an amazing Sunday Communion gathering with everyone on site (actually in the sunshine!); The Imagined Village; and finally the mammoth task of packing up, as no cars were allowed on site due to the mud, so everything had to be walked off site!  Great community spirit, smiles, help and hard graft!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-19397826

We caught up with old friends; the Elliots, Clare Helmsley, Steve Howarth and had a great time with our local buddies; Reeves, Jacobs & Matt.

An amazing time of richness, and M didn't want to leave, wanted to go back today, or for her birthday (would be a pretty cold weekend in November!).

Finding richness in less blogging time?

Image from: http://www.genderacrossborders.com/2010/04/26/what-does-blogging-mean-to-you/

So it's almost a month since my last blog post, and ironically there has been more to write about in the past month than in the whole of the past year.  However, it's a watch this space on most of it, all will be revealed before the end of this mad year!

But the last few weeks have definitely been rich.  The sun and the olympics came to Britain, and the summer holidays have meant that regular kids groups all get cancelled, so I've been finding more creative ways to occupy the kids.

A few months back I mentioned the National Trust's '50 things to do before you're 11 and 3/4', and we haven't even started on that list yet, but I've had a great time with the kids:

• at the Men's Modern Pentathlon and going on four trains
• finding beasties in Creech Wood
• swimming in the sea
• painting beach huts (with water)
• meeting farm yard animals
• balloon modelling in the library
• spotting amazing butterflies in the Butterfly house
• bouncing on a bouncy castle 
• seeing how high we can really go on the swings in our local park
• eating more meals outside than inside
• planning this week's Greenbelt adventure!

And with the exception of the Olympics and Greenbelt, they've been free activities and all done with lovely friends.

Our lives are very rich and we are blessed by living in an amazing city...wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

I've won something!

http://www.beaulieu.co.uk/

So it feels like I never win anything, and I'm sure that's mainly down to the fact that I never enter anything...but on a whim a month or so ago, I entered a competition with Families SouthEast (a local magazine with info on stuff to do with kids) and I got an email this week to say I've won a family trip to Beaulieu!  Hubby gets to see James Bond cars and a Top Gear exhibition, and I'll get a day out in the fresh air with the kids.  Brilliant...and all for the cost of the petrol to get there (think it would take a bit too long on the bike ;-)

So that's added some joy in an otherwise mixed week.

And lots of people are asking how no TV is going, and so far evenings are passing with me getting lots of stuff done.  I'm listening to a bit of Radio 4 (my general knowledge is going to increase lots...especially after a 3 hour ironing fest, and just listening to what happened to be on!).  I'm definitely noticing how much I would out of habit, pop it on in the evening, even if it's background whilst I'm doing bits on the laptop.  So it's not an easy thing to give up, but I think it's good.

And this is an interesting site with ideas on things to do in Lent that are positive.

http://www.40acts.org.uk/

This is also the week that I first discovered Pinterest.  A great way to keep track of cool things you find online.  Very useful as I can never remember where I've seen stuff.