christmas...

Yes, I'm uttering that dreaded word. The one that has slowly been creeping into hushed conversations and dark corners of the supermarkets since early September.

As a single parent of one and tight budget I have to think about these things early. Im grateful the boy is still young enough to not want the expensive gadgets his friends seem to want. He has no obsessions the other boys in his class do and I can get away with so much! This year has been easier. hand knitted hat, a new scarf and some DVDs. I plan to buy him a new scooter and a helmet. His current ones are getting too small and he does use it on the way to school everyday.

I've put aside a box and started adding food, jars of chutney and jam I've made specifically for that month! Chocolates and biscuits were added last week when finding them on offer and Ive replenished the store cupboard with a lot of extras should the weather get bad enough or I get too sick to go out. last year I fell ill with 3 chest infections and barely had the energy to take the boy to school. this year im going to be prepared!

The usual autumn preserving is carrying on with jars collected from friends and neighbours. Blackberry vodka has been bottled and labeled ready for winter celebrations (i'll post the recipe as soon as i get a spare moment) sloe gin is still in the cupboard I hope to bottle it soon.

We are picking the last of the blackberries, making use of haws, rowan and sloes for a fantastic hedgerow jelly and already putting plans in place for next spring. With new, deeper raised beds and a new patch for the strawberries.

I'll be making a start on christmas cards soon getting the boy on board to help. Thankfully this year I dont have many to send! Then new decorations - last year a lot were damaged when the loft had to be quickly emptied in early spring.

fun with a bird table!

Another Saturday and finally autumn seems to have kicked into gear. It has been one of those slow, productive days. The boy and I erected a temporary feeding station for the birds. Sadly the bird table I bought just isnt up to standard! it needs some minor work to make it usable.

I weighed up sending it back and asking for a refund - I ordered online and I guess this is one of the risks you take when ordering goods over the internet. Instead of sending it back, at a cost to me with postage I've decided to make the repair myself. The stand just isn't wide enough to sustain it in any kind of breeze. A minor job to get it 'functioning'. It has however made me wonder just how many faulty goods are sent back and what on earth do they do with them? not everyone has the skills or the tools to do these kind  of repairs. A little disappointing to think they might end up in landfill.

For now the bird table will sit indoors until i can get out to get some new screws and while I'm at it some wood preservative.

With that let down we decided it was time to get back out and forage. haws for ketchup and jam, sloes for yet more gin, blackberry, rowan and what ever else i can get my hands on to turn into jams and sauces!

First we tucked into good cheese and pickle sandwiches opening a jar of green tomato and courgette chutney I made last month. I had made this batch up with regular sugar rather than brown sugar and I have to admit, its pretty damn good for a light chutney. Im going to experiment using regular sugar as its cheaper especially if there is little difference in taste. The colour however did look interesting!

reflecting on the year

It has been a crazy, tumultuous year here at number 32. Illness, money worries amongst a whole host of other misfortunes and lost opportunities. It can be hard not to dwell on them, to find a positive spin on life when everything seems so miserable and depressing, especially when for a while things begin to look up and then crash back down around you.

Its finding those little sparks and flourishes, the smiles and quiet moments that make life a little bit more worthwhile. The things you've forgotten amongst the hardship that should be savoured.

This year there was so much I'd forgotten I had achieved and enjoyed.

I gained a qualification. Proof I'm good at what I do and honestly I need a massive kick up the backside when it comes to belief in myself.

There was the day spent roaming around an organic farm. Picking up hints and nifty tricks I've put in place here in my own makeshift organic garden. Theres still much work to be done but its in a far better state than this time last year! An achievement in itself.

The quiet days on the beach, the photography trips, foraging and jam making. They are all things that get drowned out in the haze at the back of your mind when you have so much else to think about.

I guess I need to slow down. take a few good days off and plan something just for me? forget about the projects building up or sons health and just.. be.

clutter!

September is finally here and I always feel like its the start of a 'new year', the best time to start something fresh for the year ahead. i always stick to plans i put into place now than any other time of the year. The late few weeks of summer we always get in September, the start of the harvest, jam and chutney making amongst everything else have a lot to do with it. Keeping busy gives you less chance to fail it seems.

This month I'm on a mission to reduce the amount of stuff in my home. Over the years it seems to have grown exponentially. For years I lived such a minimalist life. I could cram all my possessions into just 6 boxes. Now, Id be hard pushed to fit it all into the back of lorry. Its one of the joys of having children. I often ask myself how much stuff do I really need?

With impending building works and a complete redesign of my home to fit with how I use it. It sounds extreme but something has to give. I cant possibly, nor do I need half the stuff I have in my house. There is just too much. Proper storage will go a long way to solving my problems *laughs* storage, yes that is a sign you have too much stuff! 

My problem is my work, I have a lot of stuff i need to work. I have boxes, stacked and filled with my art supplies. a decent way to store them would free up room, make it easier not only to get access to them and work faster but to also live in this house.

Im not after extreme minimalist living, I've read blogs by people who own just 100 items. My books alone would fill that and I'm far from ready to give up my entire collection for digital copies.

Today I made a decision. Some of the books had to go. I did make it easy on myself. kept it simple and sorted my fiction books into piles - read, read and will read again,  unread, unread and will never read. I now have a suitcase full of books by the front door awaiting a trip to the charity shop. I also have a self imposed ban, no new books until the unread pile has gone!

I didn't realise I had so many books, books behind books on the shelves  I had yet to read. I'm guessing they were all impulse buys somewhere along the lines. NO MORE!

Clothes too made it onto the cutting room floor. I had things in my wardrobe I'd never wear again. clothes that had memories tied into them and not always good ones. I filled a black sack and they too are awaiting a trip to the charity shop.

I finally sorted the carry tray that is supposed to hold all my cleaning supplies. These days it had become my 'junk drawer' filled with all manner of rubbish finally gone!

Its not much in the big battle against clutter but it is a hell of a start. I hope by the end of the month to finally get rid of everything I no longer use, need or want. Its a small victory. Now i just need to figure out how on earth to get it all to the charity shop!

woodland walk

The school holidays are almost over, I cant wait to get my tiny bit of freedom back. I know! I know! I shouldn't wish away these days but 6 weeks is such a long time to entertain a child on your own.

earlier in the week I made the most of the quiet, early start and made the boy some new crayons. He has a habit of breaking them into tiny pieces and making them unusable.

We started with these, all sorted into similar colours before putting in a medium oven for as long as it too to melt them. I kept checking through the glass so they didnt become a boring, murky puddle but would set with a a swirl of different colours

These are the finished crayon cakes. The boy has happily sat colouring with them since Friday and they are still in one piece!


With a final break in the weather we decided to go on a woodland foraging walk. Pulling on wellies, grabbing our baskets we took the 15 minute walk to the entrance of the woods. We're lucky to have several woodland trust woodlands within walking distance. We spent a good 3 hrs walking through the woods even trudged past the remains of farm boundries, picking up pine cones, hazelnuts and blackberries as we walked.

beautiful textures on a fallen tree. it was covered in bugs, woodlice, spiders even a beetle scurried over it.

roots growing through slate built farm boundries. The path we took was narrow with steep sides.

sloes before we gathered a pot full for homemade sloe gin and haws almost ready. we have a recipe for haw schnapps and haw ketchup we want to try out this year.

The last stop of the day before the long walk home, the boy sitting in the grass while I picked a few apples from the tree. This is a golden-ringed dragonfly and the first time the boy had seen one in the flesh. he was amazed and has the picture of him sat with it on his wall.

we returned to picking what few apples were left on the tree, its has been a particularly bad summer and this tree was laden with so much fruit 2 years ago its branches touched the ground. This year due to the wet weather most of the fruit had split and began to rot. a far cry from how lucky we've been in previous years. we gathered up a couple of kgs and made our way home.

second hand shops

I love secondhand shops. There is something about them, trawling through them looking for hidden gems that is incredibly addictive.  I have a habit of going into whichever one I pass.

Over the years I have picked up some absolute bargains from sons pristine moses basket to bed linen. clothing, and much more recently a fabulous penguin books box set, not a single book had been read (I am a sort of collector of penguin books. i love the covers)

Yesterday I picked up this incredible find.

I have been after cornishware for absolutely ages and have been saving a little each week to buy myself a teapot. So I was surprised to find this set in my charity shop for just £3. There are no cracks or chips at all and I would have happily paid more for it (i did stick more cash in the donation tin). I'm in love with it and it has to be the best buy from a charity shop for me. I'm already using it for my breakfast cuppa along with another teapot. I might just put the teapot funds towards something else now I have my own little bit of cornishware.

august

I've just realised i haven't blogged since may! wow! it has been very busy here. So much has happened in the last few months I've barely had time to catch my breath. so, instead of a long winded post about the last few months, I'll share a few pictures.

 my favourite rose in flower, perfect pea soup and some recent designs.

 beautiful blue and white china from the local charity shop added to my mismatched haul, lavender picked ready to be hung for drying, carrot and lentil soup and my blanket, now over a foot long.

 lastly, leftovers turned into pizza, the begining of a pair of socks, a pretty tea cup i bought for just 75p and sons breakfast pancakes!