Flowers

This afternoon the menfolk headed off to the supermarket whilst the girls got Button’s homework done.

As they passed the flowers, my wonderful little man turned to his daddy and declared “I want to buy some beautiful flowers for my beautiful mummy”.

Who knew that a simple bunch of supermarket flowers could be the most beautiful blooms in the world?  And bring such joy to this mummy’s heart?

 

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Johnny B Good shirt

Despite my own best efforts not to finish this shirt, I did, and in good time for Boy’s birthday party on Saturday.  Phew!

Before I get into the review of this shirt, let me just remind you that this shirt was upcycled from a shirt gifted to us by our friend, Martin.  The fabric is a thick and temperamental cotton, that acts like a very brattish polyester.

But…it’s wonderfully soft and cosy and Boy, who normally throws a fit of the screaming ab-dabs when you ask him to wear a shirt, couldn’t wait to get it on, and didn’t want to take it off. So it’s a win, as far as I’m concerned.

I did change the buttons.  On the original shirt they were a yellowy cream button and really looked a bit odd against the lilac/pink/blue fabric.

The new buttons are a variegated lilac that I found on our local market stall.  I like them much more.

Oops…a bit blurry, but you get the idea, no?

And, in one final change, I “drafted” a mandarin/grandad collar by simply folding the collar part of the pattern up and using just the stand to cut my fabric.  I did, of course, remember to add a seam allowance to the top of the collar!

The pattern is Shwinn Designs Johnny B Good shirt, and, I’ll admit I have mixed feelings about this pattern.

Let’s start with the good:

• The tiling on the pdf is really good and the pattern tapes together quickly and cleanly.
• The drafting of the pattern is excellent.  I found all the separate pieces stitched up perfectly.
• The sizing is good too.  Boy is a small 5 and this shirt fits him now but has room to grow into.  In my book this is perfect.  If I’m sewing something for the kids I’d like it to last more than a couple of weeks!

However, this pattern does have some challenges:

• I found the instructions to be a little less than straightforward and clear.
• I thought the sleeve placket is a little long.  It reaches right up to the elbow. This is, of course, just a matter of personal taste.
• I also thought the sleeve placket to be placed just a little too far towards the front of the sleeve.
• There are no placement marks for the buttonholes on the sleeves.  The idea is that you place them where you’d like them to go, but, personally, I would have preferred them to be added on the pattern.

I think this shows how far forwards the sleeve placket sits on the sleeve and also how high up the sleeve it goes. Please ignore the shoddy buttonholes. 

Despite the things I’m not fond of with this pattern, I will be using it again.  I think I’ll adjust the sleeve placket to move it more to the back of the arm, and shorten the placket a little bit.  

I plan to measure this shirt to get a really good idea for button placement and mark them on the pattern.

And lastly, I  think I’ll redraft the hem of this shirt to give it tails rather than a straight edge.  I think it will look really cute.

Once the pattern has been tweaked there’s one other thing I’ll change. I’ll use better thread so the topstitching isn’t quite so shocking.  I’m eternally grateful that this fabric hides a multitude of sins!

However, all my gripes are moot.  Boy loves his shirt, which is nothing short of a birthday miracle.

And yes, that is a bus cake.  As his party was held on the play bus (officially making him the coolest boy in the class…who knew?) I really had no say in the matter.

He loved it 😉

Five

Oh my amazing little man,

How did you get to be 5 already?

It’s seems only a blink of an eye that you were such a small and frightened little boy.  A little boy uncomfortable in his own skin and unable to articulate the confusion and frustration you so obviously experienced.

And yet on Monday, your birthday, you charmed the optician, flirted outrageously with the nurse, and had all the little old ladies in the waiting room eating out of your hand.  Then you skipped into school laden with goodies for the multitude of friends you have made since September, without so much as a backwards glance.

I was so very proud.

Proud of the fearless little man you have become.  Proud of your old fashioned manners and insistence on carrying bags and holding doors for ladies.  Proud of your hilarious sense of humour and impeccable comic timing.

Proud of just how kind and loving you are.

Most of all I am proud to be your mummy.

I know everyone always says that you are so lucky that we found you.  But you and Button and Daddy and I know the truth.

You found us.

And we are the lucky ones.

Happy birthday, my wonderful boy.

We love you.

Button’s baby dolly birthday quilt set

Button has, until recently, been a neglectful mother to her baby dollies.  The poor things have been dragged around the house by their ankles, butt naked and bedraggled. A favourite game has been to swing baby dolly by ankle and wrist, higher and higher, finally letting go at the apex of the swing, allowing baby dolly to swoop high and fast into the bedroom wall.

It’s a good job I have social services on speed dial!

Recently, however, there has been a change and, thankfully, she’s starting to dress the poor shivering souls, and even create little beds from blankets in which to tuck them up at night.

It seemed only right, therefore, that she should get a dolly bed for her birthday.

I knew she’d be thrilled with the bed, but the sheet and pillow that came with it were nothing short of pitiful.  I knew that poor baby dolly really needed a beautiful quilt and pillow so she’d be comfy and warm in her new bed.

I also realised that I’m now officially certifiable.

Having recognised that, I snaffled a bag of scraps left over from the Hello Kitty quilt top from Ma, and set to.  Not only would baby dolly have a lovely cosy quilt, it would match the quilt we’re making for Button when we redo her bedroom this year.

Which tips me into the territory of completely cray-cray!

Thankfully, this isn’t really news to anyone.  And baby dolly now has a lovely cosy bed, and Button is finally a fit mother!

The only problem now is that Button has commandeered a basket from my sewing room to use as a Moses basket for a second baby dolly.  Baby dolly is currently swaddled in a blanket….

Sigh!

Six

My darling girl,

I cannot believe that you are six already.  The time has flown since you came home and made me the proudest, happiest mummy in the world.

Because you are only six (I’m trying to convince myself that you’re not growing up far to fast, despite all evidence to the contrary) you cannot know the joy you bring to Daddy and me, and to your grandparents.  We all love you beyond known words.

Red dress is a Heidi and Finn cowl neck dress I finished before Christmas. I love this pattern! You may have noticed 😉

Every day you amaze me in some way.  You are kind and funny.  Bold and brave. Smart and beautiful.  And sometimes you find my last nerve and stamp it into the ground.

I love you for all these things.

I love how you are so gentle with babies and animals.

Flouting the “no dogs on the furniture” rule!

I love your immoveable sense of justice.

I love the smell of your hair and the feel of your tiny hand patting my back whilst you bear hug me.

I love your tuneless singing and how you dance with abandon.

I love your eclectic fashion sense.

I love how you go to school clean and smart and come home looking like an extra from St Trinian’s.

I love how the whole world is an adventure to you, and you never, ever shy away from it…even when you’re scaring the pants off me (climbing walls are a prime example!)

I love you in a million different ways for a million different things.

I love you, my adorable girl.  Happy birthday.

See ya, 2013…mind the door doesn’t hit you on the ass on the way out!

Au revoir, 2013.

Can’t say I’m sorry to see the back of you.  You’ve been a bit of a “meh” kind of year and I’m really throwing down the gauntlet to 2014 to be less of a pain in the butt.

December just passed me by in a blur.  After needing to replace both our cars with some urgency, the dishwasher, microwave and house all decided to blow their top too.  The white goods have been replaced…the house needs a full rewire.  We’re not talking about that at the moment!

I made it to Christmas day with sanity almost intact but feeling decidedly under the weather.  We had a quiet but delightful day (although I’ve sworn I’m never cooking a full Christmas turkey dinner ever again), and I awoke on Boxing Day to find myself completely floored by the bug that I’d been fighting since the last lot of antibiotics finished.  It was a completely different kind of bug (thankfully no coughing this time) but still pretty awful.

I knew I should have asked Santa for a stronger immune system! 😉

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So, at the moment I have nothing to share with you except my heartfelt wishes that you had a wonderful Christmas, that you and your loved ones are hale and hearty, and that you have fun things planned for 2014.

I’m going to take a breath, get the kids back to school next week and see if inspiration strikes.  I haven’t sewn or knitted a stitch since Christmas Eve when I finished The Husband’s red socks just in the nick of time.  

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However, I can’t let this post pass without a shout out to Ma, who celebrated her 70th birthday with us on New Year’s Eve.

Happy Birthday, Ma! We love you.

Sock slugs

Half term.

A small phrase that sends shivers down the spines of many parents.  Especially at this time of year when the weather is less than clement and you can’t tip the little horrors darlings into the garden and let them burn off some energy climbing the hedge.

Don’t get me wrong.  We are so ready for half term.  It’s been a tiring few weeks for all of us, and my little ones need the break.  It was lovely today not to have to leap out of bed and herd everyone out of the door, but to take it gently with tea/milk in bed and a leisurely breakfast.

Still…they need plenty of entertaining when they are out of school. So today, although the storms skirted us and the most we’ve had is some blustery winds and rain, otherwise known as normal service in these parts, I was really glad to have a lovely, indoor, activity organised for the kids.

Our local bookshop, Ebb & Flo, is a delightful and child friendly place.  

Diane, the owner, is always ready with a great book recommendation, whether for your own child, or a birthday gift. She’s also really good at organising fun events, especially children’s ones for the holidays.  

Today it was a story time and activity session with Fiona Woodhead, author of Once-Upon-A-Slime:

We had so much fun!

Apart from the subject matter…slugs, slime, and all sorts of things that make children roar with laughter and parents shudder slightly…we transformed old socks into slug companions, that even Boy managed to make with only a little bit of stitchy help from me.

Fiona is delightful…a vivacious and charming lady with an amazing rapport with children…and a passion for these tales which were originally the bedtimes stories told to her and her siblings by their father.  She’s also pretty amazing…she writes, illustrates and self-publishes this small range of books, as well as running these fabulous little workshops.

My two were mesmerised…no small feat…and the whole event was made more delightful as they were joined by their cousins and a school friend.

This was a lovely morning that included all my favourite things…family, friends, crafting and books.  The slugs are a huge hit and have entertained the wee people far more than I could have imagined.

I’ve a feeling we’ll need to do this again, sometime soon.  And if you’d like to make your own sock slug, which I highly recommend you do, then visit Fiona’s website for details.  

Have fun!

The gift

I’m sure by now you all know just how blessed I am with friends.  I am surrounded by funny, clever, ballsy women who grab life by the throat and shake it until it gives up the goods.

They are astonishingly well read, well travelled and talented.  And they are generous in never making me feel less than them, even though I’ve not read as much, seen as much or been as well educated.  It might seem like an odd thing to note, but trust me, I’ve know enough folk who would happily try to belittle folk even when they hadn’t got the wherewithal to pull it off (and no, I don’t spend time with them any more.)

For as long as I’ve know her my friend C has suffered from end stage renal failure. This has resulted in her life being made smaller by her illness.  Her food choices are restricted to only the blandest of things.  Her travel is limited by the need to be close to her hospital.  Hospital appointments come thick and fast. She gets tired. And, most recently, she has been on dialysis.

And let me tell you, dialysis is brutal.  BRUTAL.  Don’t be fooled by the TV images of folk sat around in big comfy chairs chatting whilst the machines do their work. Think bruises worthy of a car crash.  Lumps and swellings.  Painful surgeries to insert the necessary gubbins.

C has borne this with a grace and calm that I don’t possess when everything in the garden is rosy.  Never mind when I’m exhausted, nauseous and in pain.  I’m crap with a cold.  I cannot imagine how I’d deal with a life threatening illness. Certainly not without complaining…which C never does.

She is pretty bloody amazing, you know.

And on Thursday of last week…she got The Call.

You know the one.  The one that has you out of bed in the wee small hours and on the way to the hospital for a day of more tests and interminable waiting.

Waiting for the kidney to arrive.

Waiting to know for sure that it’s all going to go ahead.

Waiting to know if the transplant has worked.

On Thursday my friends and I turned the phone lines red hot as we waiting with her.  Constant texts and emails kept the information flowing and our spirits up as we hoped for the best, and tried not to explode with hope and joy.

Late in the night, C sent a final text.

We waited and prayed.

And at a little after 8am on Friday morning, she texted again.

The kidney was in, it was working and she was feeling fine.  Sore yes, but most definitely fine.

She’s still in hospital, of course.  But is making great progress.  Fast progress. She’s on her feet and will be home very soon. We are beyond all words to express how grateful we are that our amazing friend will be well again.

But we have not forgotten the family that lost someone they loved so that we could feel this joy.

They have been in our thoughts and prayers these last few days.  We don’t know who they are, but we are humbled by their gift of life at such a heartbreakingly sad time for them.

Most probably they will never read these words, but I hope that in some way they know that across this land there are families and friends of people whose lives have been transformed beyond recognition, and our gratitude and thankfulness is as deep as their grief.

Let’s not forget that we can all change someone’s life.  I’m not sure of the position in other countries, but here in the UK, at the moment you need to register to donate your organs.

It’s a really simple thing to do.

It doesn’t take very long.

But should, God forbid, anything happen to you, your organs can save another’s life. And not just one person.  But several.

So please, please, please…before you read the next blog, or make another cup of tea, go to NHS Blood and Transplant, or your country’s equivalent, and register to donate your organs.  Tell your family members of your wishes, and, if you can, get them to sign up to.

Thank you.

School

The house is quiet.

Both of them are at school.

Button was a little fazed this morning, but as soon as she bumped into her friend at the gates, she was fine and off like a rocket!

Boy has been wired all day waiting to go…he’s only in for half afternoons all this week.

It feels like only the blink of an eye since they were these two tiny people at nursery.

Now they are both school children.

I’m a little bit sad that we don’t have babies in the house any more. But much more proud of the amazing people they are growing up to be.

We are entering a new era, and I have no idea what it will bring.  I’m looking forward to finding out.

Boy meets pavement

He used the brakes on his scooter a tad too enthusiastically.  Thankfully he’s fine. And we didn’t need A&E!

I’m also pretty glad that the black eye he got the other week at the play centre has faded.

PS…the uber sad face is purely for effect.  He’s currently bouncing around the garden like a little boy should.