21 go down to the sea...

annual summer camping trip time again...our largest group outing to date...11 adults and 10 kids all went down to Dorset for a weekend of fun, frolics and fossils...

...chesil beach in the mist...

we managed to celebrate two birthdays

with home made cake...now a pre-requisite for any camping trip for me I'm afraid

...fit in some walking...

there be a baby in that there purple scarf refashioned into a sling apparatus

we visited some rocky beaches

the girls jointly invested many weeks pocket money in an inflatable

(versatile that scarf!)

and my lovely friend Jane (one of the Birthday Girls) even made a dress over the weekend...
a rather small dress, but a dress, nonetheless

go camping...it rocks!

random photos of those pesky smallfry...

random pics of the smallfry, just because...


running through a doorway in the tudor part of Hampton Court Palace where we had a lot of fun thinking about King Henry "the Horrid" (as Esther christened him) - what a brilliant place for a day out with kids, from the palace with its kitchens and twisty turny corridors, to the maze which we had to lose ourselves in twice it was so much fun, to the formal gardens, the rose gardens (with a scent so beautiful it made us all stand still) and gorgeous wild areas in which to picnic...


had to include this shot of my wonderfully disaffected looking 6 going on 15 year old - doesn't she do sullen well? Fabulous [shivers at the thought of how well-practised she'll be by the time she actually hits 15]

it just took a bop on her trusty spacehopper to wipe that sulk from her face (how long will that grass last in the face of such bop-hopping? anyone's guess...)

ack, this one doesn't do sullen. Yet.

post sugary fudge making the old ritual of "licking the bowl". I did it with my sister (fighting over every last scrap of sweet goodness) and hopefully their kids will do it too...that old cycle of life eh? my mum would be proud to see me upholding the old traditions...

crafting? it'll be back soon, I promise...

on growth...and development...

my baby turned 4...how this happened is beyond me...seems like only yesterday she arrived and brightened up our lives like nothing we could ever have expected...on birthdays I feel so lucky to have her and her sister in my life...apart from anything else I feel lucky that we are privileged enough to live in an affluent society...though elements of this affluent capitalist society irritate me beyond belief there is no arguing with the fact that we have plenty to eat, a roof over our heads and wonderful health care should we ever need it...


my baby turning 4 prompted me to think of the kids less fortunate...I don't do this very often as it leads me to a dark place full of wondering what sense or reason there is in this crazy world where bankers earn millions in bonuses and people starve. Instead I have a fairly innocuous amount of money come out of my bank account once a month...about the amount it would cost to buy two pretty mediocre bottles of wine or 5 super skinny vanilla frappucinno deluxes...and I sponsor a little girl in Paraguay through Plan. I've recently given up alcohol and coffee (in a temporary way!) and so have even less need for pretty mediocre bottles of wine or frappucino deluxes...which means I can now extend my sponsorship to cover two little girls ...which feels right given that I have two little girls of my own, like I am putting something back and helping in a tiny way to redress that awful imbalance...

I feel funny telling you about this, I don't think anyone outside my immediate family knows, why should they? it matters only to me really...but as I was browsing Plan's website while sorting things out for my new sponsorship this week I noticed that they actively solicit people with websites to link to them...free viral marketing I suppose you would call it in this free market economy...and so I've put a link at the side of this page...I urge you to visit their site, read a bit about the work they do, and make your own judgement...

am off to Ireland for a while over Easter...see you when I'm back

in the meantime have a very Happy Easter...hope the bunny is good to you!

wishing you a sweet and happy new year...

a colleague of mine introduced me to the Jewish tradition of apples dipped in honey at Rosh Hashanah in order to symbolically invite sweet things for the year to come. Being a bit of a magpie when it comes to appealing customs and rituals I brought this one home and shared it with the kids and Mr G way back then (October, was it?). When it came to the recent New Year's Eve Ms Reva, she of the amazing memory and attention to detail not to mention adoration of all things ritualistic (now, where could she get that from I wonder?) asked when we would be doing the apple and honey thang. With yours truly around she didn't need to ask twice.

There being no reason not to we adopted it in for our (non-Jewish New Year) New Year's Day brunch. We wished for sweet things for 2009 and that's my wish for you too. Have a great 2009, wherever you are. Honey coated or not.

(The brunch was great too...apples and honey, home made pancakes, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, bagels, cream cheese, croissants, bonne maman jam, lashings of tea and copious amounts of coffee from Mr G's xmas pressie espresso maker. Mmmm, now that's a custom that has taken firm root chez milkwood...)

I've been absent a lot of late. Real life has got me in its grips and is squeezing me tight. Work is busier than ever, the kids are growing and seem to need more rather than less of me. It's ok, it's just taken me a bit by surprise. Ms Bester starts nursery at BIG SCHOOL next week and I can feel her quiet trepidation. Ms Reva is back to school tomorrow after an illness blighted Xmas and I can hear her not-so-quiet feelings on the subject!

I did quite a bit of knitting coming up to December 25th though, some of which has been passed to its recipients and can be shown.

My dad had some health issues last year, which he has met head on (as he does everything in life, amazing chap my dad) and now walks an hour or so early each morning. I walked his daily route with him on my last visit, riverside in Co. Cork. Every day I think of him taking his constitutional and so this Xmas when faced with the dilemma of what to get the man who needs nothing and wants less I decided to knit him a scarf to wear while walking. A multi-directional diagonal scarf to be precise. There were a couple of nerve wracking days waiting for the sumptuous Noro Silk Garden to arrive but arrive it did and soon those needles were clicking and clacking on the bus, in the doctors waiting room, at Ms Reva's Xmas carol concert, on my bike (oh no, actually I didn't go quite that far) and he received his parcel a little after the big day (I blame the Irish Post!).



That Noro Silk Garden is a lovely yarn, and I like these manly colours, very suitable for my dear dad. They match exactly the colours he likes to wear. I hope he has many many hours of warm walking and feels the love in every stitch. (Shame I don't have a photo of dad wearing it on his walk, maybe he'll send me one...hint, hint)

The aforementioned colleague (with the apples and honey) has recently taken to knitting after a 26 year hiatus. A rekindled passion responsibility for which she lays squarely at my door. I am happy with this and am quietly hoping to recruit more workmates to the dark art. They are mostly male software engineers more interested in World of Warcraft and techno-gadgetry but I hold out a glimmer of hope. Mia knit lots of hats for Xmas and helping her find a pattern on ravelry we came across this particularly fetching ribbed beanie which I surreptitiously managed to knit up for Mr G for his stocking.
The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and it's lovely. Amazingly I knit most of it while sitting watching TV with him and he was still overcome with surprise when he unwrapped it. All I can assume is that he thought I was knitting yet another tea cosy.

Speaking of tea cosies, there were a few of those on the needles too. One for Jane which I forgot to take a photo of but which I hope will keep her tea toasty warm while she is recovering from her leg operation on Wednesday and not wanting to have to make the trip to the kettle too often. And one for an undisclosable recipient who hasn't yet received it. Ooooh, nothing like leaving on a note of mystery eh?...

nice knitting...knitting with alliteration...

My darling Ms Reva fights sleep every night. I lie there beside her, wondering why the heck* this should be so, why should a tiny 6 year old who is quite clearly exhausted beyond belief both physically and mentally not fall to slumber with grace and ease. My wondering has thus far yielded no results. We have some of our oddest and most intimate conversations at this time of day. As well as some blooming irritating ones where she is obviously just racking her brains for anything to say to keep herself awake and I am like a broken record with my refrain (in increasingly stressed tone) of "no more talking now dear" (I don't really say the "dear" bit - I just put that in to make me sound nicer than I really am at that time of night after a long long day. I normally stop, sternly, after the word "now"). Anyway, I digress. One night last week it emerged that Ms Reva now knows all about alliteration, she's learned it at school. She delighted in repeating examples of said grammatical feature while I wondered about sleep deprivation and its long term effects on the under tens. And their mothers. It emerged she also knows all about similes now too. (Tautologies? no, I reckon I am safe... for now). Don't they grow up fast now though? I seem to remember learning this kind of stuff in secondary school at about twice her tender age.

So, in the spirit of alliteration, I share with you:

some fingerless mittens for Maaya (my lovely Japanese friend) who recently turned an age with a 0 on the end and threw a wonderful party


these are Evangeline (you need to be a ravelry member to access the free pattern I am afraid - another great reason to join eh?) knit in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino aran on size 5.0




and a capelet for Katy (I checked, as long as the sound is the same it counts, apparently) who is far too young and needs to celebrate a 0 laden birthday before I can possibly take her seriously^. Katy has been having a rather unpleasant time of it with a wicked teacher who ignores the needs of young children when it come to the notion of Father Christmas and so it was nice to (hopefully) cheer her up.


in Rowan Cocoon in kiwi on size 8.0

Great patterns both


I have plans for another capelet in a kind of purple, as well as some mittens for myself for those days I want to knit in the park, however I am in the throes of frantic secret gift knitting at the moment so those will have to wait...

I hope you are all bearing up well in this season of insanity (if truth be told I'm getting more manic by the day...)

*"why the heck" being Ms Bester's favourite phrase of exclamation which she reckons is just the right side of proper swearing to earn her no more than an indulgent tutting - I LOVE it!
^joke

just what do you do when the kids grow out of their clothes?...

there are the obvious options, to pass on to friends or family or send off to the charity shop...the brave few might even ebay them...but you know those little bits of clothing that have a special resonance...the ones that you absolutely adored on them...or that remind you of a special occasion,...or were given by a special someone...what do you do with those? I just can't bear to let them go...I'm pretty good at moving things on and looking forward rather than back...but some things I just can't say goodbye to...

they've been hiding away in a special box until recently...when I took them out, gave them a freshen-up wash and did this...

trousers Ms Reva wore to Florence aged 3 months (and a felted cashmere sweater of her dad's - the moths got it so it had to be...) the back has the smock you see below...

from my favourite smock of Ms Reva's, back when the girl would still wear anything floral ...before she moved on to robots and spacepeople and living in t-shirts...


from the dress Ms Bester wore to the Venice Biennale aged 2 months...and a pretty vintage button

now I just need to score me a billion pins...

what do you do with those special somethings?

wemakeLondon...a roving report...

your intrepid Milkwood Times roving reporters (ed in Chief AnnieB, cub reporters Ms Reva and Ms Bester) braved the depths of central London last weekend to bring you this exclusive report on London's finest craft fair, the one and only WeMakeLondon...our main aim was to meet the infamous Angharad and check out her lovely wares...we found her in a pleasant corner, penned in by beautiful bags and purses and had a first hand report that the fair was fun. Helen certainly looked joyful as she sat on her perch next to Ms Clothcat (lovely felted items) and surrounded by her handmade goodies. Her purses were almost too pretty (ooh, they are gorgeous, and they are for sale on etsy too) for my slovenly lifestyle (shame that...) but I did score this wonderful tissue holder...


...now complete with inaugural Cath Kidston polkadot tissues...we'll degenerate to lidl multi-packs shortly, as soon as this initial flurry of good taste and throwing caution to the wind with regard to paying almost a pound for a couple of sheafs of paper that you will wipe children's snot with wears off. It won't be long.

After that it was one sort of crafting wonderfulness after another until I thought my head would explode.

The Milkwood team's faves were, in absolutely no order at all:

Cub Reporters Choices
1. Buttons by creamrose
ooooh, we spent a lot of time on this stall, and re-awarded our favourite button award many times over. In the end we made some choices and walked away with two sets, but I know we will be back for more.
They will be perfect for the many baby kimono cardigans that will be gracing my needles for Autumn 08. The Creamrose team were simply delightful and acted as though they weren't put out in the slightest by the cub reporters tactile approach to the sport of craft-fairing. Thank God!
2. creatures by siansburys
we didn't take any of these home (had we not just had a birthday and lots of cub reporter spoiling I am pretty sure defences would have been lower and we'd have snagged at least a brace) but have our beady little eyes on them for the future - they were fab
3. sock critters by millimoomi
the cubs invested heavily at the shrine to sock critterdom that was millimoomi, walking out with not one but two tiny sock rabbits. These are currently taking pride of place in the cub reporter's staff room, although the pink one has hidden and refused to come out for the photo [ed's note - photo now lost also...will be included at later date if photographer not sacked for negligence] - the choice of this pink one struck me as strange, as usually my girls profess to hate pink, but Ms Bester let her love of sock bunnyness overcome her hatred of the colour, as it was the only one left once her more senior colleague had snaffled the yellow...

Ed In Chief's Choices
1. Angharad, obviously. Such beautiful work, such gorgeous fabrics, such an eye for detail and colour. I loved them, and cherish my tissue holder and the opportunities it may yield for an all round fresher faced reporting staff. Do Not Hold Breath. I May Never Use A Polkadot Tissue. They Are Too Cute.
2. I second the cubs' choices above. Those are damn fine reporters.
3. I fell head over heels and totally in love with...wait for it...some knickers. Not just any knickers you understand, ooooh no. These are Greygoat's handmade silky ones. Oh my word they are gorgeous. And she does matching camis too I hear. I have updated my Christmas wishlist already...scratched out all the teflon coated bakeware previously inscribed (well, the oven doesn't work anyway so who needs them, frankly) and replaced with these. In unscratchable ink. Roll on December...

after all that hard work the reporting team repaired to the nearest pizza express and had some damn fine pizza, swiftly followed by a trip to the British Museum and much hilarity in the Egyptian rooms ("there's a dead one" "Ooooooooh, there's another dead one" "Mummy, Mummy, there's a Mummy, Mummy" and my favourite of all, when faced with a Mummy case with a beard painted on the external representative figure "Is that one a Daddy?")

(note: it is past midnight on Thursday night/Friday morning and I have been seeking a moment to write this post since Sunday night...is it any wonder I am on an average of one post a week...)

(note 2: Thank You all so much for the birthday wishes for Ms Reva. You rock!)

...on being three...

my baby girl turns three this week...I am going to be away on the day so we designated yesterday her official birthday and did all the things you do on such a day...it was marvellous...

the day before - cake and jelly in preparation



the scene in our back garden upon rising on the big day, snow on your birthday - how exciting is that?


the badge of honour (which of course she wouldn't wear but which will join the others on her shelf of birthday cards with badges made by mum)




the gift opening by a very excited pair of sisters, Ms Bester from my friend imagingermonkey was a huge hit, thanks again Katy : you are a star


the party table (yes, in time honoured mean mom tradition I did force them to eat some "healthy stuff" first)


the finished cake (didn't get to photograph the jelly as the party guests got there first...the bunny didn't stand a chance...top tip for 3 year old parties - do jelly, they'll love it!)

she had requested a strawberry cake and this is what I came up with, mostly as a result of the current lack of oven situation...a party game for grown ups did emerge during the mayhem of the afternoon, with about 5 of them standing around umming and aahing and trying to fix my oven, convinced it is just a timer problem, unfortunately there was no winner but I think they had fun

a very tired but happy girl before bed (when she got there she insisted the cot bed be turned into a bed as she is now offially a big girl)


what a lovely day for a truly lovely girl, forgive me for being soppy but that child really does make my heart sing...she's hilarious

There was another birthday girl this week too, my darling friend Ms D with whom I celebrated in style on Saturday night in the company of Mr G, The Wolf and the King and Queen of home entertaining...unfortunately due to a prior engagement I had to forego her oyster eating extravaganza yesterday afternoon (too busy forcing jelly rabbits on unsuspecting 3 year olds) but I hope she had a wonderful time. Happy Birthday Ms D.

I am away from tonight...visiting Ireland to give my dad a big hug as he has been a bit poorly and to sing happy birthday to my sister (hopelessly out of tune) ...back at the weekend

a last post on Easter...and the winner of my heart...

1. serendipitous find inside the church at Stoven, 2. Easter on beach Southwold, 3. snow and headstones in Stoven, 4. Mr G issuing Easter Egg Hunt directions, 5. hunting for eggs in snow, 6. huts southwold easter 2008, 7. goose egg and easter chicks, 8. huts southwold easter 2008, 9. boats southwold 2008, 10. egg hunt ON, 11. boats southwold 2008, 12. easter display 2, 13. easter display, 14. easter snow 2008, 15. easter sunday 2008 southwold, 16. unusual easter bunny 2008, 17. stoven church easter, 18. huts southwold easter 2008, 19. no need for tea cosy, 20. huts southwold easter 2008, 21. easter chick biscuit, 22. easter display goose egg and bunny, 23. in the graveyard easter sunday 2008, 24. grey pier snow easter sunday southwold 2008, 25. egg in snow suffolk easter 2008, 26. easter heart, 27. easter display 3, 28. lichen slate and snow

we went to Suffolk to visit friends for Easter, it snowed, we drank lots of tea and prosecco (as you do), ate lots of chocolate and fish (as you do too) and had an all round lovely time...a wonderful and much appreciated down time for all of us...mmmmmmm

(not quite sure why my mosaic turned out so tiny, but there you go...seems a bit ridiculous when the titles dwarf the image to such an extent but you sort of get the idea I hope)

came back late on Monday, was straight into work on Tuesday and so finally managed to pull the name out of the hat last night (or the number out of the random number generator, it being the 21st century and me being a time-pressed blogger) and the winner of my heart is...commenter no 23 hurrayic who has a lovely blog and left a lovely comment...

but thanks to everyone who commented on the last couple of posts, and indeed on all my posts ever - your comments make my heart sing, every single one of them...I would love to reply to every one individually but blogger doesn't give me details for all comments for some reason, but I do visit every blog and leave a comment where I can...

have a lovely week

1, 2, 3, 4.....felt

my eldest daughter has now been stricken by the chickenpox...so a day at home for all (Thursday is my day off from work so I could rest easy and not worry about deadlines and schedules while pandering to a sick child, tomorrow will be quite another matter)

we spent our morning making these...




I was in charge of the 4 one, but Ms Reva took total charge of the felt portrait one...she had been asking if we could put a picture of Lara onto the first but my energy/creative/hassle levels were low and I kept saying no I don't think we'd be able to do that (which is very unlike me when making stuff with the kids, the one good thing about having me as a parent is that I'm normally game to rise to any creative challenge) however the girl persevered and in the end she put it together herself. Hats off, she did a great job. I was then left to do the stitching (in a kind of renaissance master:minion operation) while she reclined on her sick-couch, spent from her exertion...

I've been making little badges since the kids were younger...I attach them to a blank card for their birthdays and then keep them on a shelf in their room all year...here is Madame Esther's from last birthday...
do you think there is a name for the disease whose main symptom is the desire to put little tags that say your name on everything? If so I'd like to know it...because I've gone down with it...and it appears to be hereditary as the kids are also showing an unhealthy interest...

(come to think of it I was just like this with labelling things at school too)


I haven't forgotten about the giveaway...pop back next week and hopefully I'll have had a chance to get it together. In the meantime why not pay a visit to LucyKateCrafts where there is a very sweet little critter looking for a home right now...

listen to me say "stuff", a lot...

last week I got an email from a stranger called Marty Owings...on Saturday he called me up...talked to me for half an hour or so...then put this interview up on RadioFreeNation...

when I listened to the interview afterwards it was weird...there is so much that seems really obvious in my mind about what I do but it struck me on listening that of course none of this is obvious to anyone who doesn't inhabit my mind...(those lucky, lucky people!)

so, there is more to be said than "stuff" and Marty has been kind enough to invite me back in the summer...that'll give me the opportunity to ramble even more about things like recycling, reuse, redeployment as well as some things I've been thinking about how the blog'o'craft'o'sphere turns the virtual into the tangible and tactile through the whole swap-thing, I'll be able to talk about the kids artclub I set up and how wonderful it is to watch kids who thirst for the chance making art and maybe I'll even be lucky enough to be able to say something about some progress in my "escape the 9 to 5" mission...who knows...

I love that Marty is out there, looking at "stuff" and being so enthusiastic about it all...the world needs more people like that, being enthusiastic, giving encouragement and saying Nice Things...I'm a great believer in saying Nice Things...they mean a lot...

Check back over the next couple of days, I'm going to follow Marty's generous spirit and do me a little old giveaway...not sure what yet, but some of my "stuff"...my way of saying "thanks" to the craft'o'blog'o'sphere and all those people who pop in and say NT...

in the meantime, here is the drawing of the "Fireworks Dog" that Ms. Reva did which I'll be trying to translate into an appliqued quilt for a friend's imminent arrival...and oh what fun that should be...



look...there are houses in there too...how wonderful, I've been wanting to applique some houses since I saw this

[afterthought: just in case anyone from the day job is about...it was a bit lazy of me to say it is boring (please don't fire me, I have a mortgage and hungry children to feed you know)...a little tedious on occasion and not very creatively stimulating might have been a better way of putting it...]

the pox is upon us...

smallfry2 is down with chickenpox
smallfry1 will surely fall soon...

the sum total of the mite's dietary requirements of the past three days...

...toast in the shape of Nice Things

...covered with bonne maman strawberry jam



(I prefer the blackcurrant myself, but there is no accounting for taste, especially when pox ridden I suppose)


...and strawberry jelly


One of the reasons I quite like to make jelly is these beautiful vintage moulds - one of Ms Reva's best birthday gifts of last year, from Maaya, doyenne of the car boot sale....we have one really large rabbit mould too, makes enough jelly for at least 6 ravenous jelly-fiends



I took the opportunity while having an unexpected couple of days home from the office on pox-watch to photograph some china bowls I scored down in the oxfam shop recently, pretty huh?


and to play with the focus/depth of field (is that what you call it?) stuff on my camera...I'd quite like to paint this...

Publish Post