boobs for babes and tits for tots!!

A fab new breastfeeding awareness campaign needs your help. Some lovely ladies from The Green Parent magazine forum have started this campaign and they are doing well ut need all the money and support they can get. They are launching a calendar to raise the profile of breastfeeding mamas and help support mums.

Rachael and Claire have support from some big names too like Ella's kitchen, Lactivist and Sainsbury's. I cant wait to buy my copy of the calendar! Well done Ladies!

Please visit their website and donate.
http://www.boobsforbabes.com/

"Our mission is to raise the profile of breastfeeding both in the UK and internationally, lending support to those who wish to start breastfeeding, continue under difficult circumstances and educate those who have never considered it as an option. We will be promoting this with our first ever calendar of breastfeeding mamas and their little ones which will be available from our online shop ready for the New Year."


 

Back to school

The lack of posting recently is mainly centred around the fact i have been preparing myself and the girls for me going back to school. After a tiring 3 day (an extra day for me for staff dev) we are looking forward to settling back to a few days of just us!

School was great! I do love where i work. everyone is so hard working, always trying to do the best for the children in their care. My new class are lovely. Think i am going to be really lucky this year. They are very sweet and seem keen to learn so roll on this year!

I have also been busy making a couple of things for my new class.

Our topic at the moment is teeth and healthy eating but in a few weeks we will also be looking at weather and i could not resist making this tactile weather map for them to play with. good old velcro! obviously Lion class is my new classes name.

my girls have faired well this week and despite them being away from me for longer that normal, they have done really well. The day is longer for them too and Lucy is now having tea at the childminders house. I know she will be well looked after its just that it is MY job to feed my babies.This bit i fear i may never get used to.

So how was your return to school?

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!!