Week 19: sunshine and tears

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm now approaching this blog in a different way. From now on I'll be blogging an update on a (hopefully!) weekly basis, interspersed with the occasional, more detailed post. If you see anything that piques your curiosity in a weekly update and you want me to elaborate, please leave me a comment or drop me a line.

This week started with a fab bank holiday weekend. The sun was shining and with the return of Make Sundays Special, Bristol was at its best. The streets were packed with people and it all had a vibrant festival-like atmosphere. There was even a massive water slide down one of the city's main arteries. Amazing! We had a fab family day out taking it all in.

Our daughter got to explore the great outdoors some more, has carried on caring for her naming tree and was introduced to the art of barbecuing.

Weeks ago, I thought I'd make some coloured rice for Nimue to play with but there's no way I'm going to let her play with it indoors (I'm not a huge fan of the vacuum cleaner at the best of times!) so with the arrival of the sunny weather, she finally had a chance to play with it. It's really simple to make and, unlike the gravel on our patio, I don't mind if she ends up eating some.

I've also started blinging up some trainers for the little miss this week but I've run out of crystals mid-project so all I can show you for now is the start. I should be able to show you the finished article later this month.

Mid-week the weather soured and we received the devastating news that a friend, who played a role in getting hubby and I together, has ended her long battle with cancer. It was a sad day with lots of tears but also many hugs and stolen kisses with my daughter. Life is oh so short and far from fair, it's important to hug the people we hold dear and tell them how much we love them as often as possible. In an attempt at dispelling some of the sadness of the day, I decided to introduce our toddler to baking. We made a chocolate and marmalade cake and an awful lot of mess! But I dare say this little one has already inherited her parents' love of baking.

It's not just baking our daughter is interested in though. Lately, she has been desperate to contribute in the kitchen. Sadly we don't have much space on the counter tops for her to sit on and it makes me really nervous when she is up there. So, my husband, who loves a bit of woodwork, has made her a little helper pod. It was finished last night and Nimue has christened it with enthusiasm today. Hubby has done us proud, it's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship and with some tender loving care, it will make a fab heirloom. The only downside is that with a toddler involved in the food prep and the washing up, we're going to have a whole lot more kitchen cleaning to do!

Tomorrow we're hosting a tea party for Contact the Elderly so there's some frantic baking going on here this weekend, you'll hear all about it in next week's update. Until then, take care x

Week 18 - a lot to celebrate

I've been thinking about my blog a lot lately. When I started it, I didn't mean for it to be a dedicated craft blog but that's the direction it took almost straight away. But since having a child, I don't get to craft half as much as I used to, projects take ages to finish and that leaves me with seemingly little to blog about.

I've wondered whether I should just drop the blogging, whether I should take it in a new direction and then I took a closer look at my life and I realised I make things all the time. Not always big, accomplished, crafty projects but I cook, I bake, I fix stuff, I start projects and finish bits of it on a regular basis. So instead of waiting for the end of a project and write extensively about it, I'm going to show you my little every day accomplishments on a (hopefully!) weekly basis. And when I do manage to finish a knit or a sew or a piece of jewellery, I'll write a separate, more detailed post.

If you spot anything in a weekly update and want me to give more details about it, then just leave me a comment or drop me a line and I'll happily oblige.

So we start with week 18... well, with the end of week 17 included. This week has been one of celebrations.

On Saturday 26th April, it was Koningsdag, the Dutch national celebration. In an attempt at bringing up a multilingual child, we have recently hooked up with a network of Dutch people living in Bristol. The Dutch can be quite patriotic and Koningsdag is a big deal to them so we all got together for a family celebration at the Bristol's Children Playhouse. Everyone brought traditional Dutch foods and dressed up in the traditional orange. Our food contribution included orange cake pops, boterkoek (a Dutch take on shortbread) and poffertjes (a sort of mini pancake served with melted butter and icing sugar). All in all, it was a lovely day, our daughter certainly had a fab time.

A very orange buffet

Orange cake pops

We live on the edge of a park with a lovely big pond in it. It's home to many ducks and a couple of swans. I'd observed that the female swan had retreated to her nest for what felt like weeks, a sure sign that cygnets were on the way. My daughter and I were delighted when we saw the cygnets had finally hatched earlier this week. They are so cute and fluffy, absolutely gorgeous!

With the nicer spring weather timidly settling in, Nimue has taken great pleasure in doing some gardening and looking after her naming tree.

This week was also the week of Beltane and we were in Glastonbury as usual to celebrate my favourite festival of all. Celebrating life, love, sensuality and fertility with like minded folks always leaves me happy for days afterwards. As usual, we jumped over the Beltane fire and danced the Maypole. Despite being up well past her bedtime, our daughter clapped along to the songs and was completely in awe of the Maypole dance. I wrapped her up in my Beltane shawl when we were outside and it suited her so well.

On the baking front, I've been making a batch of clotted cream rice pudding. It remains to this day Nimue's favourite pudding. It's pretty easy to make and freezes really well so I make it in batches on a regular basis. For some reason though, I am yet to make a batch where I don't let the milk boil over the pan, I always get distracted at the crucial moment.

So that was week 18! Have a lovely bank holiday weekend folks and until next time x

My crafty husband

For the past few weeks, I have been working on a baby quilt and a baby coat and they're nearly finished. But I can't blog about them for some time yet because they are a gift to my best friend in Quebec so I have to wait until they've arrived at their destination, lest I would spoil the surprise.

So instead, I've decided to blog about someone else's crafty endeavours. As it happens, I'm not the only crafty one in this household, my darling husband is a keen baker and top notch DIYer with a particular passion for woodwork. If he could re-invent his career, I think he'd like to be a cabinet maker. 

I've always dreamt of having a herbs shelf in the garden. I haven't got very green hands but I love the idea of growing my own herbs and maybe a few fruits and vegetables. So, after years of me pining for a herbs shelf and with hubby having a bit more time on his hands than he's used to, he's finally got round to building it for me. And isn't it just beautiful? Even Miss Marple the cat gave it her seal of approval :-)

Talking of Miss Marple, she's soon to benefit from hubby's wood working skills as well. He's putting the finishing touches to a kitty shelter so the lady of manor can go outside as she fancies but still remain protected from the rain. She's not a spoilt cat at all!