Echoes of a Dream

Childhood Favourites

Here's a fun thing that I found on Soozs and then on Beverley's blog. You have to list your childhood favourites:

Favourite special treat food - homemade Indian sweets (they tasted like fudge) and sweet orange coloured rice. My Mum makes it sometimes for me when I go and see her.

Favourite Real Food - we didn't eat much English food so it has to be aloo peas and chappatis ( that's potatoes and peas).

Favorite thing to wear - my Mum crocheted a pink, two peice suit for me when I was about 9. There was a dress and a long coat/jacket over it and it had sparkly buttons. It had to be kept for best. I loved it - thankfully I have a photo of me in it.

Favourite place to go - the local library. I learned English when I was 5/6 and then I discovered the library a few years later. I loved that place. I read everything in the children's section. We didn't have any books at home so I lived for Saturday visits to the library.

Favourite person - I adored Mr Roberts my teacher at school - he was such a nice man.

Favourite event/occassion -  I have always loved Christmas even though we didn't really celebrate it. We had a tree and I would make my sisters stand in front of it and sing Christmas carols - one year I played the violin too (badly).

Favourite pet - we had a cat called Kim but she died when I was 10 and I locked myself in the bathroom and cried and cried.

Favourite thing to do - I loved reading. I would read my six borrowed books in one weekend. Then I would read them all over again.

Favourite television programme - we watched a lot of telly. I loved Anne of Green Gables, Thunderbirds, Banana Splits and most of what was on in the 70's. One of my missions in life is to find a video of that 70's Anne series with Kim Braden and Jan Francis.

Favourite book - where shall I start. Anne of Green Gables, Jennings series, Family from One End Street, Tom's Midnight Garden, Little House on the Prairie, mystery books by Enid Blyton. I really could go on and on.

Well that was fun. See if you can come up with a list and let me know so I can read it . Meanwhile here's a (school) photo of me in that outfit ...thanks Mum I loved it.

Finally, a room of my own.....

I realised the other day that I have not had (through most of my life) a room of my own. When I was a child I shared a room with two of my sisters (we're six children). Infact, not only did we share a room but we shared a bed 'till I was about 12. That was the only way you accomodated 6 children in a three bedroomed house I suppose. Then I left home, had a room of my own for a while at college until I had a boyfriend. After that the next time I had my own room was when I came back from Japan and before I met Tom.

I didn't realise that I needed my own space until a few months ago when I got this room. You see I have taken over what was the playroom. The children never used it - they went in, got their games or toys and brought them to the kitchen table - or they went in and played the piano ocassionally. I meanwhile, sat and sewed at the kitchen table which was nice but it meant that I had to constantly clear away and there were always piles of stuff everywhere. So after a conflab with Tom we decided that it would be a better use of this room to make it into my sewing room. HURRAY. So we moved out all the toys but I had to share it with the piano. But not for long - the knives were out. If I was having a room of my own I wasn't going to share it with anyone or anything especially a huge, lumbering piano. Another conflab - I persuaded everyone that it was in their best interests for the piano to go into the sitting room and last Sunday (with help from some neighbours plus friend Steve's piano dolly) Tom moved the piano out. It's under a window in the sitting room now, it's not ideal but hey the children have used it much more.

The playroom was suddenly huge ( I must stop calling it the playroom). Steve re-painted it for me and then I went looking for a cupboard for it. Look what I found yesterday in a vintage/antiquey shop - a bit pricey but it suited my needs so well. For once, I was able to pay for it myself (my teaching money last month plus money that I'll get from my doll-making workshop next month) - that felt good. I think it felt REALLY GOOD for Tom.  The woman in the shop said she'd deliver it next Friday but I couldn't wait that long - see what excitement it causes having your own room. So Tom went back to get it in the afternoon and loaded it up onto the roof of our Volvo.

Well everything is in situ now. I have to put up a few pegs for hanging stuff off and I need to sort through everything. I tidied up the whole room last night and I filled the drawers in the cupboard with buttons, needles, felt and all my bits and bobs. Oh it's so nice to have my own room. I've been going around the house collecting all my knick-knacks, pictures and things the children have made for me and they are all going to go in here. I'm getting really carried away in my imagination and thinking I could try and get an old lloyd loom chair, finally make a cushion for the window seat. The rest of the house will go to rack and ruin while I make myself a palace in here - in my little 11ft x 7ft room that is already crammed with furniture.

...............................................................................

We had a fire in the garden again last night and when I came downstairs this morning it was still going. So I've stoked it up a bit and put some charcoal on it and I'm going to try and cook lunch over it if I can. We're having roast beef today which we don't have very often so I don't want to muck it up. I'm sure google will tell me how to do it. Must dash ...... Oh here's a pic of a scotty dog I made out of blanket last week. The pattern is from a Japanese craft magazine.

 

Pressies from Tom

Tom went to Paris on a business trip the other day and look what he bought for us (in his one hour of spare time). Goodies to eat in tins that we can keep afterwards. He knows me pretty well. I'm having the big tin and I'll put beads or threads in mine. Amber is having the heart tin to keep her jewelry in, Raj has the red tin and he will keep stamps in his and Rohan is going to keep toy soldiers in his tin.Incase you're wondering about the contents they are chocolates, nougat, biscuits and mints.

I was looking at luckybeans' blog the other day and she had a pic of herself and her husband - it was their wedding anniversary. I love looking at people's wedding pics. So incase you do too here is a photo of our wedding on September 7th 1991.

We got married in a Georgian church on the banks of the River Thames. I wore Indian clothes and the wedding was a very simple affair as we didn't have any money. We had our reception in the church garden with finger food like samosas, sushi, salmon on rye. Not much and we had some Peruvian guys playing panpipes (we saw them busking in Covent Garden and asked them to play at our wedding for £50). It was a lovely wedding. Over the years Tom amd I have done the usual 'who has the hardest day' routine, loved each other, hated each other. I stopped working and stayed at home with the (three) children and he works (very hard) as a financial journalist. Sadly most of the work is in London so these days he goes up there early on a Tuesday morning and comes back late on Thursday night. The chidren are older now so it's easier for me to be on my own with them but we MISS him. It's so nice when he's back and having breakfast with us on Friday morning. The weekends whizz by though. Anyway, Tom if you ever read this - I love you, you are a great support, friend, soulmate and a great Dad.

This is why I've gone grey.......

A quickie as I'm off to bed soon. I was just downloading the pics I took on our walk the other day and I found this one of our house. It's a cotswold stone house, wooden windows, new dormer windows in the attic and oak door. Nice house -  so what you're thinking? Well, here's a pic of how it looked when we bought it three years ago (this month).

It was covered in pebbledash, had plastic windows and a ghastly extension at the front. The inside was worse - damp, fireplaces covered up, polystyrene tiles on the ceilings, kitchen in the wrong place, wood veneer on some of the walls - I can't go on. Slowly, slowly we've brought the house back to life again but I know why I've gone grey and slightly dotty. OK we didn't do it ourselves but all those workmen, the mess and upheaval - still it WAS worth it.

A nice way to end......

The children went back to school this morning and although I loved having them at home for THREE weeks I so enjoyed the peace and quiet this morning. Infact, I walked back from school and I was so shattered coming up the hill that I lay on the sofa for ages (actually I staggered through the door and slumped on it) .I just had to do something to notice that I had the house back to myself.  It was going to be a morning finishing my other two lambs but I'm glad I slumped - it was more relaxing.

We finished the school hols in a really nice way with our little trip at the weekend. Amber and I visited some of the Indian cloth shops near to where my parents live and I got some really cheap linen to make some trousers. I love these shops - the colour, the cloth, the smell, the strange looking mannequins in the window and the bartering that goes on between the older ladies. After that we saw a sign for threading for £2.50 so we thought we'd try it out. I am a convert. I can never pluck my eyebrows again not when I could have them done in seconds for that price. I wish I could explain how it's done but I can't. All I know is that the lady had a reel of cotton thread in her hand, the end of it in her mouth and the middle of it on Amber's eyebrows. She whizzed them off in seconds. I went home to my Mum wowing about it and all she said was 'What are you going on about? Women in Indian do that all the time'. I thought I'd made a new discovery!

Anyhow, the museum was amazing. This weekend people were living in the houses just as they would have been lived in in about 1920-1930. It was an amazing insight into a time gone by. Most of these houses were inhabited by coalminers (very poor), coal pit owner (much better off) and other labourers. Since the museum opened (about 20 years ago) a lot of people have visited that used to live in such houses so they have passed on their history. In one house for example a lady visiting told that she had lived there with her mother, father and eight brothers and sisters. They lived in a back-to-back house which had one room downstairs and one room upstairs. She said that they only had two chairs around the table which Mum and Dad used. She and her siblings sat up the stairs to eat. Upstairs the room was sectioned off with a blanket. Mum and Dad had one bed, the two little ones slept in a chest of drawers and the other 6 slept head-to-toe in the other bed. It does make you think doesn't it. Makes you feel quite humble. Actually it made me come home and clear a lot of clutter - it seemed sort of obscene living as we do. I've posted some pics on flickr - it's called a museum but it's really a little town with all the original shops, houses, cinema, coal-pit, pub and canal running through it. It's a really interesting place to visit.

Finally, here is a pic of my latest lambs started at my Mum's and finished off this afternoon.

Now that school has started I have a list as long as my arm of the things I want to make. I also have to think about my next project at school. I only have the one class this term and I want to try and rag rug with them. I'm also supposed to be running a doll-making workshop for some parents which I need to organise. Time is going to whizz by at this rate.

Baaa baaa

We're off to visit my parents tomorrow and then heading back via the Black Country Museum which has an open weekend. It's a really great place and well worth a special visit to.

Last night's lambs inspired me to make one of my own - thanks to the free pattern over on turkeyfeathers. I had a really nice, clean, thick baby blanket that a friend had given me so I used that. Little lamb needed something around her neck so I stole the ribbon from Amber's lindt bunny (I don't think the lindt bunny was too impressed). Then I remembered that being the hoader that I am I already have about 5 or 6 of these bells and ribbons stashed away somewhere (the children always get these bunnies for Easter).

I'm on a bit of a roll now and I want to make more of them. They really are cute and adorable. Thank you so much Vicki - looks like Jeremy and I will be taking you to tea if you ever come over here.

Can't decide whether to take a book or sewing with me to my Mums or to watch the telly (only opportunity I get to watch something as we don't have one).  I'm sure I'll end up taking far too much for one night just in case.....

The joys of spring

The children are still on easter holidays and we're still having quiet, lazy days in. So this evening after supper I suggested a quick walk around the fields. Boy were we glad that we'd gone out as we were met with such beautiful sights. Firstly, there was this beautiful flowering quince up the road, then this spooky looking daffodil on the grass verge and then we came upon these crown imperial lillies in someones garden. They are so lovely and there's a myth/legend surrounding them. In the field we saw our first cowslips  and finally the highlight - two lambs just hours old. A neighbour told us that they were born this afternoon and that luckily Colin (who owns the sheep) was present because one of the lambs came out still in it's sac. Apparently Colin punctured the sac, took out the lamb and swung it about a bit (?!) and then rolled it on the ground. If he hadn't been around the lamb would have died.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I understand that Jeremy was on the computer this morning whilst I was out of the room. I do aplogise if he caused anyone any offence. He does have strong opinions especially when it comes to people from other countries - I suppose it's because he's with them all the time. Apparently he's very good at his job and very popular amongst the ladies. He's so charming you see and slim and well groomed and he has a plummy accent too. Swoon.

Hello, I'm Jeremy

Hello my name is Jeremy and I am a friend of Simmy. It's so nice to meet you all at last. I was beginning to think that I would never make by debut into this blogworld. I mean, do you know how long it took her to make my shoes? Of course a chap never goes out without the correct shoes. So I have been standing in my bare feet for two days looking at Raj's easter garden. Now I can think of worse places to stand.  At least I've been able to watch that tree blossom and the caterpillar metamorphasise but I have had to cancel two important meetings in town (that's London town to you foreign types). You see I am a tour guide and I take all these foreign chappies around London. We do the usual haunts - Queenie's palace, a few galleries, Downing street, Trafalgar square, Soho - oh you know where I mean. I try to add a little bit of sparkle depending on which country my visitors are from. You see the American's like to go to the theatre and take tea at Fortnum's, the Japanese like the famous sites... oh blimey Simmy's coming back and I was supposed to be telling you about the shoes.

Quickly listen to this. She had four attempts at making my shoes! Here is a photograph of all of them. The ones on the left were the first pair - look at the size of them - she had to turn them into my feet! The second pair - can I think of anything positive to say about them? They were too tight and what a ghastly style. The third pair - blue. I ask you has the girl got any fashion sense? These were a cut down pattern of the final ones. Luckily she abandoned them halfway. Finally, thanks to Vicki over at Turkey Feathers I got the shoes of my dreams. Brown, sturdy, room for movement and rather stylish (yes, I know they have black laces but what can I do). Vicky I love you and if you ever come to England I will take you to tea somewhere nice in the Cotswolds.

Must go, she's coming but here's another photograph of yours truly. Love and kisses to you all, Jeremy. xxxxx

   

PS I'm not usually the complaining type but that document case she made for me is a tad too small for my use. I need a briefcase or satchel type bag - preferably leather. Could someone have a word in her ear please? 

Sneak preview .......

What a lovely weekend has gone by. I do so love all the festivals - they are a time for anticipation, reverence and wonder. They nourish our souls and they connect us to a greater rythmn that is present in the universe. Christmas is my big and favourite one I must admit but I do enjoy Easter too. It's a time when we start breathing out after the inward breathing of winter. Eostre was the goddess of Spring to our ancestors and she brought new life and light to the world. Death and resurrection are the two main features at this time and I suppose you can see this in nature when the little seed swells and splits apart, giving up it's existence to grow into new life.  It's also portrayed so well in the Easter garden that we made when the caterpillar was transformed into a butterfly. Raj was awestruck when he found that this had happened to his caterpillar and similarly when he found all the eggs hidden by the Easter hare. On another note it's also a time to get together with friends and family and so this afternoon we had 14 to tea. There was a splendid feast - hot cross buns, simnel cake and bridge rolls with salmon (sadly I forgot to take a photo and it all disappeared rather quickly).

Other than eating and planting seeds over these four days I did manage to make Sally.

She was supposed to be a sock doll but could I find any suitable socks? In the end I used an old cardigan of Amber's that had shrunk in the wash and the head was one of my usual (waldorf) ones. It took a lot longer than if I had had socks but I am pleased with the result. She is supposed to be holding a little dolly which I should have made but I got distracted by Jeremy. Here is a sneak preview of Jeremy. More of him tomorrow after I have been clothes shopping with Amber.....

 

Happy Easter

Good Friday has come upon us so quickly. I was going to do the Easter garden with Raj days ago. I'd planned to sow some grass seed in it that would sprout for Sunday but luckily I found some moss growing on my neighbour's stone wall. So that has made the basis of the garden. We've put in a bowl for a pond and added some flowers and weeds from our own garden. Then we found bits and bobs lying around the house like the ladybird, chick and the bird in the tree. Raj made a caterpillar out of paper (which has already gone soggy) but the plan is that before he wakes on Easter morning I will replace it with a butterfly. I got the idea from a lovely book called 'All Year Round'  which has ideas for all the festivals and how to celebrate them with children.

Other than our garden we've made Hot Cross Buns ofcourse which have turned out surprisingly well this year (they've been like paperweights in the past). Tom and the children are outside planting potatoes, the sun is shining and lambs are bleating in the field. I'm off to put the kettle on but not before wishing all my lovely blogging friends HAPPY EASTER.