Spring is here

Isn't it lovely to be able to get out and enjoy the season? We've been to see the lambs - we are very fortunate to live on a farm here in Devon, so are blessed to experience the land changing throughout each season as the year rolls on.

We've also been taking advantage of the dry weather at the local playground, which is usually deserted; it's wonderful to have free run of the place!

Posted by Devonmama xx

Knitting

Around illnesses I have managed to fit in a bit of knitting, some strawberries for a GP mummy, a hat for my lovely hubby for Christmas, a hat for a friends new baby (welcome to the world Marcella!) and a felted bowl made as a Christmas present.

We also moved the seasonal table to a lower shelf so that Thomas could reach it. His favourite pastime at the moment seems to be stroking the pumpkin!

A poorly boy also managed to do a bit of crafting himself, hes very proud of his lanterns!

Posted by sparky

Knitted Sheep!

So, one of my first 'proper' craft projects, a set of knitted sheep for my one year old son's birthday! The design was from a Steiner-Waldorf book borrowed from my little local library. They were fun & quite satisfying to make, if a tiny bit fiddly.

They're stuffed with carded wool procured from the organic farm my husband works on, so I guess they could be deemed organic sheep :)

Husband thinks the biggest one is scary looking, and will give him nightmares...however son is not so easily spooked and seems to enjoy carrying them (all) about the place, I'm pleased to say!

Posted by Devonmama 06/10/08

Received my lovely Seasons Table swap - a pretty mobile which is hanging up in the living room. Only trouble is, I don't think I want to take it down once Autumn is over!! My photo doesn't do it justice I'm afraid. Thank you Gina. Gina also sent a couple of choccy bars and I could have photographed myself devouring them, but that wouldn't have made a pretty sight.



I had my first request for a GP Lets item the other day, so, without revealing too much, here is my first little make - a blanket to keep a little dolly warm! Going to make the other bedding soon!! It's such a great idea and really fun too. So much of the day is filled with the usual stuff, so it's really lovely to be able to 'connect' with someone and produce something that somebody else will find useful, even if you never meet that person. I think that's what I miss sometimes about being a SAHM, the connection with the 'real world'. So yes, "One small blanket for dolly, one giant boost for Mummykind!"



Out in the garden, lots and lots of interesting things to see. A bug box bursting with earwigs, a Grey Dagger moth caterpillar enjoying the Silver Birch leaves and Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb, enjoying the bird food!! I know they are thieving rodents and DH thinks I'm soft, but they are just too cute to dislike aren't they!! Just keep away from the house, mousies!!!































On the home front, Minnie is now crawling and so now she can not only eat Mr Men books, she can get to the office and chew up bank statements!! It's easy to find her when she crawls out of the room, you just follow the trail of paper mush and dribble!! Right, blogging off now!!

Wodgehog

Beauty in the veg box

mama4
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I made chutney!

This weekend I made chutney.

I feel particularly pleased as I'm a bit of an 'ideas' person. I'm full of lots of ideas; many of which seldom ground into reality.

However, I am now the proud owner of 10 jars of marrow chutney. I've been doing a 'zero waste' journey with my family and this is a great step to further reduce food waste. It also helps us to avoid buying food that might get wasted too.

All the jars were old honey and jam jars which we had kept. The marrow and apples came from the garden. Next year I hope all the tomatoes and onions will as well. Cider vinegar came in glass jars, sugar in paper and spices I tied together in one of Dh's old holey t-shirts that I cut up LOL!

The only 'waste' was the packets from the sultanas. Given notice (I kinda had a 'I'm making chutney and I'm making it now' moment) I'm sure I could get around that.

It was frugal too. Between six and seven pounds for ten 440gm jars. As half the ingredients were organic, I felt this was a bargain.

So my chutney is sitting for 2 months and I promise not to peek, stick my finger in or lick. But I wanted to share my first adventure into real earth mama preserving with you all!

I followed the aptly named 'Glutney' recipe from River Cottage.

posted with love, by Starchild xx

Sunset

My son's first birthday sunset .. perfect.

mama4

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