"How much?!? I could make that!"

I started a folder a few months back, which contains clippings from catalogues and magazines, of items that I believe I could make relatively easily, and that would cost a lot less (if you discount woman-hours of course). 

And at last I've gotten around to making my first item from the clippings.  Little Benjamin was born a few weeks ago, and I've seen so many taggies around, and my eldest always loved the labels on toys (such much so that bunny's has been sucked off entirely), that I decided to make him one.  (I found this site via Pinterest, which gave a brief tutorial on how to do it, which also gave me some extra courage http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2010/11/make-it-taggie-blanket-for-baby/ )

We had a baby's sleeping bag with a lovely horse on it, and the zip was broken, so I started with that; asked round friends for odds and ends of ribbon, and between us we came up with enough bits to get cracking.

There was one false start, when I pinned the ribbons on the wrong way (wouldn't have been very exciting with them all inside and inaccessible), but once that was sorted the whole thing probably only took about an hour to make...not bad for a first attempt.  And so lovely to have Grandma's sewing machine out with a purpose again. 




So with one entirely recycled taggie delivered, I've now just got to find some ideas that I can do for a wedding present, a 40th birthday, not to mention Christmas!  All ideas gratefully recieved ;-)

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!

Loaves & Fishes....with a bit of dessert thrown in!

Little is much when God is in it

So in the past 24 hours we have been given 5 mackerel, 16kg of bread flour (and a lovely evening chat with a friend) and a bag of rhubarb...what lovely friends and work collegues we have...we are very blessed.

And it reminded me of the last littlies kids church that we had at our house before the school holidays when we were talking about sharing, and how the little boy shared his lunch (loaves and fishes) and ended up being part of a miracle that fed thousands.  (Today's equivalent would be...no food for anyone at the opening ceremony tomorrow night...don't worry, I've got my cheese sarnies and a pick of ready salted, quick prayer and pass it round, and round, and round....).

The rhubarb was just a nice addition, to remind me that God can't be put in a box, and loves to bless his children.  A great God and great friends...we were made to be together!

Putting my money where my mouth is!

So at last I'm starting to move our money!

How many years have I been thinking about doing it?  How many times have I started to investigate options?  Well, I think this time it's really going to happen.

In other areas of our life I'm really passionate about what happens to our waste, where our food is sourced from, what I spend my time doing, what I let the children be exposed to, so how come it's taken so long to get round to acting on what impact my money is having on others whilst we're not using it!  It's mind boggling really, and I'm sure that most of it is down to a lack of knowledge on what actually happens with our money that's sitting in accounts.  And part of me feels that it's just something in the ether, so it can't really be having an impact on world food prices, the arms trade, gambling businesses taking out loans, the list goes on.

So a few weeks ago I started asking others what they knew about good places to keep our money, and with a little delay due to the madness and sadness of life currently, I've started the journey of switching. 

• We're setting up small saving accounts for the kids, mostly for money that is given to us for them, and at this stage of life they really don't have many needs.  They're going to have Triodos Children's Saving accounts...they may not make the highest rate of interest (although they ain't bad), but at least we are clear who they are lending to, and we agree with the basic principles.
• For the occasions when we have some savings, I'm looking at Triodos ISAs and their saving accounts.
• And for the day-to-day current account, we're moving to the Co-Ops online bank...smile

We've decided on these due their ethical basis, and I've been astounded by the principles that triodos state on their website, here's what they say:

We're 100% ethical.

We only lend our savers' money to people and organisations who are working to make a positive impact - culturally, socially and environmentally. 

We only lend real money.

We only lend money entrusted to us by our savers, and not a penny more. In a climate that's seen so many banks around us thrown into turmoil, our approach has enabled us to remain solid and stable.

We're totally transparent.

We're completely open about how we use our customers' money. And you can see for yourself exactly who we lend to on our website.

And the 'who we lend to' tool...is amazing!  I could look at where we live and see who they've lent to locally, and there are some fascinating businesses that I've discovered.  Check it out!  (I'm not on commission, honest...it's just so refreshing to see something simple, that makes sense, and that fits with some better values.)

So now I've just got to get through the process of moving.  I'll let you know how the journey of switching is...they have teams to help do all the direct debit moves etc apparently...so fingers crosses.