Still finding my feet

A real, real quickie today because we have friends from Gloucestershire due in about an hour and I still have lunch to finish off, potatoes to put on the hotpot for this evening and Amber will be calling me in a while to bake blind the pastry case for the Raspberry Bakewell Tart she's making .......... huge intake of breath.

Sorry I haven't been around for a while but I was at my parents last week and then the w/end just went in a blur. Did you hear that it snowed on Sunday? It wasn't anything like the amount you get over the pond but it was quite a few inches which is a record for us. The garden and woods looked glorious:

The boys had their youngest cousin Ravi staying and the three of them spent hours in the garden. There was sledging, rolling down the hill, snowball fights and because that ended in tears many hours later they didn't get the chance to make a snowman. Never mind - they had fun anyway.

Yesterday I had to meet my sister halfway between her place and mine to hand over Ravi as it were. One of the best things about moving here has been the fact that I'm just over an hour away from my sister and I've already seen her more times than I had in the last few years. It's lovely for the children too.

Last night I did the first bit of crafting I've done in ages. It's one of Betz White's cupcake pincushions from her new book and I made it as a gift for this friend that's coming today. She was so helpful at our leaving party that I wanted to say thank you. I'm really pleased with result and the fact that it only took minutes:

Whilst I was sewing Rohan came up to me and recounted a conversation that he'd had with Raj earlier in the day:

Raj - "Rohan, why doesn't Mum go on the computer as much as she used to?

Rohan - "Because the computer was next to the kitchen before and now it's upstairs in the bedroom I suppose".

Raj - " I'm glad because I like it when she's downstairs".

Sooo sweet. It did give me some food for thought though. I know I was obsessively crafting and blogging before and my excuse for doing it in the daytime was that the children were busy playing. But it did take me away from the family I guess. Here I have no sewing room, my things are still unpacked and the computer is in our bedroom and it seems too much effort to go and use it. So it's turning into more family time for me now and hopefully more time for myself too but in a different way from before. I've been saying that I want to take more exercise for ages so I think I'll find a yoga class, walk more and try and lose some weight. I won't disappear from my blog though and I think you'll understand that I'm still trying to find my feet in this new phase of my life. Must get back to the kitchen first though ............

Comments

[Rebecca]

All that snow looks lovely we have been so snow neglected here in North Wales. I am desperate for Spring though so I guess I should not complain too much.

Glad to hear you won't be leaving us completely but sometimes something like this is a good jolt into re-organising our time, changing the balance of things. I had to put myself on a computer diet a while ago, surprising how things creep up on us sometimes.

[bex]

Lovely post!
I finally got my bum to the P.O. today so hopefully there will be an intact package at your place very soon. So sorry about the wait...Xxx

[teaching handwork]

I love making those felted cupcakes

[sarah]

I've backed of from blogging a bit myself as N and I noted that if we want our children to be busy doing non-media stuff, then we should as well. The cupcake is sweet. Mine is sitting with my other pincushions in my bedroom!

Hope things continue to settle in for you all. We've made the formal decision to keep hels at the Waldorf School for 2 more years. Phew. What a decision. Now I'm wishing we lived near a high school :)

[Marcia]

I spend too much time on the computer lately too. Your cupcake turned out really cute. Glad to read that things are going so well for you and the family.

[Marie Rayner]

Beautiful snow pictures Simmy. I am so happy that you seem to be settling in alright and that the kids are enjoying themselves. How nice that you are living so close to your sister. I miss mine dreadfully. I have not seen her in 8 years now . . . far too long. *sniff*sniff I love, love, LOVE your cupcake!!! However did you make that! It's delightful!

[Tracy]

Hope you're having a grand time with guests visiting at your new home. :o) Snow...it looks lovely, but it is spring now--LOL! ADORE the cupcake!! Happy Crafting ((HUGS))

[louise]

that was a short one?!!!! i love it!

i have just flown home today from san fran. i had a great time but it is lovely to be home again. it was a long time away from the family.

the pincushion is perfect.

i'll e mail you xxx

[Beverley]

Hi, please can I ask which of the Betz White books did you buy. I see there are two, and a comment on Amazon states that they are the same with different covers, but I notice they each have a different page count. One book is called Warm Fuzzies, the other one is called Feltz so Good. Excellent blog by the way I have only just found you so will keep popping in to read.

[Beverley]

Don't worry I think I have figured it out, one is for the US market and one for the UK, but Amazon haven't sussed that and are offering a special deal to buy both together!

[sooz]

Oh Simmy - I can't decide whether the snow or the cupcake delight me more! Both gorgeous :-)

[Lisa]

Love that pincushion! I felted my first jumper today and was pleased with the result. I can see I am going to have to do loads more if I want to create some delicious products!