Echoes of a Dream

I've gone from colourful to grey!

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments to my last post. It gave me plenty to mull over as I moped around the house being ill last week. In some ways we had a really nice time the children and I. We sat in front of the fire and chatted and laughed, I went off for naps but by Friday we were all tearing our hair out and wanting to go out and do something. The weather is so dismal though at the moment that we only managed the local farmers market in the drizzle. It's times like this that I miss being in a city where you can just go to a museum, gallery, the theatre or whatever. It always feels like so much of a trek from here. However, now that the children are older I really must venture further afield.

Every winter when the sky turns to that lovely shade of grey that so characterises England and the rain just pours down I'm reminded of my two years in Japan from 1985 - 1987. Japanese winters are cold but the sky is always blue and boy does that lift the spirits. I wouldn't mind how cold it was out there as long as the sky wasn't grey. It just makes me feel so grey too and while I'm at it why doesn't it snow anymore? We went for drinks with some neighbours on Sunday and they showed us a photograph of the village in 1981/82 when we had the last huge snowfall. The snow was as high as the hedges in some places. We all came home praying for it to happen just one more time and to help our prayer we changed the seasonal table and put King Winter upon his throne:

My poor children are so desperate that as soon as Raj sees frost he wants to go off and get his sledge out. To make is worse we are in the best place for sledging too - high up on the hill. Well, fingers crossed for another year.

The troops went back to school yesterday and I always find the first few days hard. I get so immersed in their being at home and the way we are all so relaxed that the first day back is always a bit of a shock. Aside from that our sleeping patterns always change so that last week we were getting up at 8.30 or 9am. As you can imagine 7.30am on Monday was a bit horrible.

Now I don't know if I can put it down to the above or to being ill but I am feeling sooooooo lazy at the minute. Not exactly lazy just this horrible feeling of inertia. I can't bring myself to do anything. I'm not inspired by anything - I just feel ughhhhhhhhh and tired. I feel like my head isn't clear. I have moments like this morning when I remembered that I'd received a bag of lovely curly wool that needed washing:

So I got it out of the shed and set too. Yesterday I had a lovely phone call with a lady that sells Earthues dyes over here and felt so inspired after out conversation. But that was it. I just look around the house and nothing excites me. I decided after seeing Dannielle's penny rugs that I would make one with my bits of dyed blanket. She was very helpful and sent me a few links to patterns. There were some lovely things there but nothing special grabbed me (Infact I think I might just copy her circles design for my first attempt if she doesn't mind). So I have my moments and then I just go ughhhhhh again. I might just be tired, I don't know and it might be to do with the fact that I'm not coping very well with a hormonal teenager. Either way I did have a really long chat with a friend yesterday morning which helped a bit. I think I should walk more. I've walked to school both mornings but somehow managed to get out of walking back and it's that bit that I need. Walking at a faster pace than the children and uphill. I'm sure it would lift my mood and set me up for the day.

I'm sorry this post has turned into a moan but I guess that's the way I'm feeling at the moment. Grey like the sky.

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.

I'll always be a pussy I'll never be a cat.

There are days when it's freezing outside and pretty chilly inside too. Sitting down in one place isn't the best way to keep warm. So you think 'well as I'm cold anyway I'll go for a walk'. Except that it was warmer inside and you last about 30 minutes traipsing over the fields. Still, it got me out of the house and this lovely reward. I came across half a dozen trees laden with pussy willow which have now gone onto the nature table which is groaning with bounty already. The cherry blossom has started to come out and although it's a bit early for England I think it might be out in Japan now.  Cherry blossom time in Japan is something to see and the Japanese take it very seriousy. Wherever, there is a cluster of trees dripping with blossom there will be a little cherry blossom viewing party (as it it is called) underneath. Out comes the food, the snacks and the sake, ofcourse and the parties go on into the night. There are even songs dedicated to the blossom. I remember coming back from Japan all those years ago and vowing that I would carry on some of the customs that I'd learnt. Things like not wearing your shoes in the house, cleaning yourself before you got into the bath, having celebrations for girl's day, boy's day or the summer tanabata festival.  Sadly, it didn't last long although I don't ever wear shoes in the house these days. Having a shower and then a soak in the bath just isn't the same thing. Maybe, one day in the house of my dreams I will have a Japanese bathroom...fully tiled, a maple bath ......Mmmm.

Is spring here?

Was it premature to dump King Winter on the sofa and change the nature table. The Spring Fairy didn't think so.   

King Winter sat on his throne one day

And he said to himself, said he

"I must admit I've had some fun,

I've chilled the earth and cooled the sun,

And not a flower or tree

But wishes that my reign were done.

As long as time and tide shall run

I'll go on making everyone

As cold as cold can be."

There came a knock at the outer door

"Who's there" King Winter cried.

"Open your palace gates" said Spring,

"For you reign no more as King.

No longer here abide.

This message from the sun I bring

The trees are green, the birds do sing

The hills with joy are echoing.

So pray, Sir, step outside."

So King Winter moved off last week but not without giving us a little flurry of snow in the middle of the week. Lady Spring finally smiled on us this morning and our new seasonal table. On the left is Mother Earth with her knitting in the basket. The root children are still asleep and there are some snowdrop fairies with their flowers. The jug on the left has some branches of cherry blossom with some blossom fairies hanging from it.

We've had a nature table for some years now and it really helps you notice the passing of the seasons. This scene will soon have chicks, lambs and hares on it as we approach Easter and then the root children will wake up and change into flower children as their flowers start to bloom outside.

Everything, apart from Mother Earth has been made by me or the children over the years. Some things I'd really rather make again as I've become better at sewing but ofcourse, the children won't hear of me removing what seem to have become family heirlooms.

This is my first post in blogland and I've been umming and aghing for so long about whether to come on board. Did I have enough creative stuff to offer or write about, what were my reasons for having a blog?? All this went round and round in my head until I thought for God's sake just try it out will you. So here's my humble offering (this bit's easier than trying to get round Typepad).

Now I'm one of those people who usually has to try everything so I get to be OK at lots of things but not a master at anything. My latest fixation was learning to crochet. So out came a book from the library and I decided that I just had to make some flowers . Trouble is I'm so bad at reading patterns (blame it on my Mum, ofcourse). But once I got shown how to do them I was at it non-stop and I made about 12 brooches. Some I gave away and a few I've sold. Here's what's left (the Indian sparkly things were my own idea).