Tuesday's treasures

A few things i would like to share with you on this sunny but refreshingly windy Tuesday.

Another little treasure came back from my Nan and Grandads house today. A beautiful wicket chair and cusion that used to live in my Nan's bedroom. It is now sitting in my bedroom, once i got this little "comfortable" reader off it. Also the cork topped bathroom stool that she has her feet on. I dont have room for this at the moment so it will go in the loft but in my imaginary dream next home, it will fit in beautifully!

Other things to be grateful today are the lovely toad in the hole i made! Never made on before but i knew it was not hard to do. Note the freshly picked carrots and runner beans from our garden. Organic of course

And finally this really was a treat. A new duvet, pillow cases and matching fitted sheet in 100% Organic cotton!!

It is lush and i cant wait to get in to it. So soft and smooth. We decided it was worth the extra money to treat ourselves and the people who grew it. This one we found in a company called homescapes.

It also come with 2 lovely draw string bags which we can use to store toys etc in. Their cotton is farmed in India and it is hand picked so the best of the fibre is spun with minimal imputiries.
Anyway i am off to slumber land now!!!

Grandads funeral.

Today has been very hard. We laid Grandad to rest in a way i think he would have been very pleased with. Uncle David's family and me with my Dads family followed the hearse in two separate cars from Grandads home to the big parish church. There we were met by some of the amazing carers at Age Concern and eventiually we followed Grandad into the church. I think there were many other people there but to be honest i did not look up, walking in or out. Grandad was a mayor for a few years and so there were representatives from the town council there as well as the current Mayor. They even flew the flag at half mast at the town hall.

The service was beautiful. My brother wrote a lovely speech about grandad, it really was nice. The part that sticks in my head is a funny memory of when we used to go over for sunday tea at nan and grandads. Stephen said "i learnt how to eat my dinners fast from those meals because if you were not quick, grandad would have whipped the plate, and mug from under your nose and washed it up quicker than that" Just a funny thing that i have not thought about for years.

my cousin Darren read a beautiful poem, he read it at my nans funeral and it really touched me. Very reasurring.

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we are still
Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Canon Henry Scott-Holland, 1847-1918, Canon of St Paul's Cathedral

When we left the church, we went up to the cemetary for the internment and i placed some lavender from my garden before leaving him.

The wake was at the local football club as Grandad was a great fan of theirs, he also did a lot for them over the years. It was lovely to see some of my family again. My Grandad leaves behind 4 sisters. All getting increasingly old and frail.
Which lead me to this thinking. Time is passing by. Never still, always moving, always changing. You would not want it to always be the same but moments and memories you miss of times you had that you loved. And what will be of the future. Time is short. Grandad used to say the same and he was 89.

Releasing our butterflies!!!

Over the last few days the butterflies have started to hatch out of the cosy cocoons and emerge as beautiful butterflies! It is quite amazing to watch and definatly something we will have to do again. This photo shows the first butterfliy fully out and the second one emerging. unfortunatly the second one did not make it. His wings were not formed or twisted or something and he never did quite make it.

Here you can see the chrysalis of the other 3 butterflies

Once the butterflies have hatched you have to put fresh flowers into the pop up basket and then you have to feed them with a sugar and water solution. Emily is simply squirting it onto the leaves.

so after observing the butterflies for a couple of days, yesterday was release day! 3 of the butterflies flew off easily and are hopefully ok in the surrounding area. This one however did not want to leave its mummy as Ian said! It simply walked up on to my thumb and was showing off its amazing wings. They are not called Painted Lady butterflies for nothing!

Eventually it flew away, but not too far, it went up onto the wall of our house!!
We have loved having the butterfly experience in our house and i would definatly recommend it to anyone! not finished yet have some more photos to show you of some very hungry caterpillar stuff we have done. another time...

can making cakes make you cry?

Silly really but making this batch of cookies did make me cry. Recently i have been helping my dad, uncle and his wife to clear out my Grandads house and while we were going through the kitchen we came across some of  my nan's cooking things. My Nan was a great cook, she would make all of our birthday cakes, christmas cakes and simnel cakes at easter and i simply could not see her things go to a charity shop.

So yesterday, the next generation (Emily, she didnt ever meet Emily) helped me make cookies with her mixing bowl. It might sound funny bit it felt really right mixing with this bowl, sending me back to all those memories of her making in the kitchen. Like passing on the baton.

I even bought back an old baking tray, imagine how many delitious things were cooked on it!

This old mixer came home with me too. I distinctly remember her in the kitchen making angel delight for my grandad's sweet tooth and him moaning about the noise over the news he was trying to watch.

Look at the beautiful old dial! It works too! Must be 30 or 40 years old.

Now this is the part that got me upset. This tin is where my nan carefuly kept all of her cake decorating bits. Each bit was folded away in the paper bag that it was bought in. I really got the sense that she looked after all that she had. and the fact that she was the last one to touch them...

Anyway inside the tin was her piping bag and metal pipers (they just dont make them like this anymore do they)

And all these little decorations for the top of cakes. The train at the front i know was on my brothers 4th birthday cake and he is now 28!! the cricketer at the back is in the photo of my grandad on his 65th birthday. A cricket cake!
Memories and things i will treasure and keep. Makes me wonder if my children or grandchildren will feel the same about my stuff when i am gone!

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside!!

What a lovely day we have had today! Our local children centre arranged a trip to Westgate beach by train for the day all at a bargain, silly price of £2 for the whole family! Well we jumped at the chance as we cant all get in the car to go anywhere when the boys are here. so early this morning we set off on the traina nd here are some photos of the day.

Note the hand made flags!!

Sand exploring!

Sandy baby toes.

When the sand disappears, play sea cricket!!

Lucy is walking!!!

Over the last couple of days Lucy has learnt to walk! We have been encouraging her to take a few steps for weeks and she could do 5 or 6 when heading towards someone but she is now full on wlking! I love the way she knows she is so clever! just like her big sister.

yesterday we had a lovely afternoon at Quex park. The part that we went into had an area we picniced in ,(not sure if we were allowed to but we did also spend money in the shop) Aslo there were climbing frames, sand pits etc. Really lovely and not too hot. Emily was not quite right and now i think about it, it was a week ago that she had her pre school jabs and i think that is what has caused a bit of a temp. She seems fine now.

Last time we will see Jen (last photo) before she has her baby in a couple of weeks! Good luck Jen!



Before we went to the park, we popped into Clarks and got Lucy her first pair of shoes! Glad we did as the grass was prickly adn it really helped her to toddle off. They are the cruiser ones so the sole is really soft which is good.

My Grandad.

My Grandad passed away this morning peacefully in his sleep. 

He had been very poorly for quite a while, slowly deteriorating over the last 3 week and was finally taken into a hospice yesterday afternoon where he was made comfortable and relaxed. 

Where do i begin to tell you how amazingly proud i am to say 'he is my grandad'. He was so strong all the way through his life, always doing the best for his family. Tirelessly working to improve things for them as well as the community and the town that he lived in. He was the mayor of our town for several years and he always took great pride in explaining the achievements he had made during his time in that post. He even met the Queen mother and was ever so proud of the photo in his sideboard of him watching over her as she signed something seemingly very important. My Nan and him would go reguarly to balls and functions together. She was never one for making a fuss but i know he was so proud to have her on his arm, wearing a dress that she had made for herself. (i now own some of those beautuful dresses)

Grandad was also in the Navy during the war and served in several places in Asia and the far east. He even came into school one year to tell the children about all he had seen and done during the war. He was there on the dd landings, dropping off supplied to all the troops. I loved to listen to him telling me his stories. Perhaps i was the only one who was never tired of them. He kept some amazing scrap books of all the things my Nan and him had seen or done and i could sit for hours before my girls were born listening to him explain them all. There is a suitcase full of the letters he sent home to her while away on duty. There love was so strong.

Above all this Grandad was a family man. He had the most amazing sense of humour and could always make you smile even when you were a teenager and the world hated you. He was so good with children. They lite up his world and turned him into the biggest kid going. I know my girls gave him great pleasure. often there would be a tear in his eye as he told me how lucky he felt to have been around long enough to have been part of their lives. Grandad would play with you and pull faces with you. Hold your hand or touch your face to let you know how much he cared. These tender moments will never leave me.

Grandad's 65th birthday 1986. A timeless shot of a moment in history, of family meals organised by my Nan. Playing up for the children, even when he was blowing out the candles on a cake!

October 1985 - me on the right aged 5, my cousin Darren 4, and my brother Stephen on the left aged 3.

This photo is how i think of him right now. With my Nan who died 5 years ago on the 3rd August (only 2 days ago). Today would have been Nans birthday and it is almost like a reasuring sign that he waited for this day, for this unity to be complete again. This photo was taken at their 50th wedding anniversary. There love was never ending, sharing everything right down to the dates that they died.

Grandad, I know you know how much i love you, I could see it in your eyes over the last few weeks. We could not say it but we knew how much we would miss each other. I want you to know  how proud of you we all are for all you achieved in your 89 years and that now i hope you are resting, peacefully back with the love of your life. I hope Nan has cooked you a good meal and you are catching up on the time you spent apart.

I love you Grandad

Caroline

i am going to be on the reader panel for The Green parent Mag!!!

i cant tell you how excited i am about this! I got the email last night to say i had been selected and they are sending me the products to try this week!!! I will be giving my opinion on chocolate!!! (that wont be hard), eye cream (i need that for my dark eyes) and some natural bath products! they want me to send them a photo and some info about me soon! i cant wait!!!
the green parent

caterpillar cocoons!

Yesterday the caterpillars decided to stop eating the paper disc on the roof of the cup and hang upside down and by this morning they had started to turn into cocoons!!! Isnt nature amazing! magical almost. I mean how can something grow in a week to probably 20 times the size it was then hang upside down by what seems like a thread and turn into a chrysilis and then hopefully a butterfly. I think at this point the adults (and now Jake and callum, Ian's older boys who are staying for 2 weeks) are more interested in the development of these little creatures than Emily! I know Ian checks on them when he makes his cup of tea first thing in the morning! Emily is still very aware of what is happening to them and cant wait for them to be butterflies. must remember to warn her that we have to let them go not long after they hatch!!!

Emily has started to colour the very hungry caterpillar colouring book and today we coloured the cocoon! she chose the page!! must go and wake Lucy, she has been asleep for 4 hours and now it is 3pm!