Autumn Nature Table

Frank enjoyed freshening up the nature table today.  

Autumn is my favourite season as I just wilt in the humid heat of summer and seem to come alive again as the air turns that little bit cooler and the sun sits that bit lower in the sky.

My boy seems to share my love of autumn and the feeling of gathering in and drawing close that comes with the shorter days and longer nights.

For the first time he decided that he wanted full artistic control over the nature table and went to work (once we had cleared it and I had wiped it down a bit) with a selection of the things we keep for it.

He chose to make a woodland scene complete with a fox chasing an unsuspecting duck and two cute hedgehogs setting up their winter homes.

We have two beautiful Ostheimer trees for the nature table and change them around as the seasons change.  

The pear tree here has white blossoms on the other side for the Spring season and then we have  a fir tree for winter.

And so the seasons shift and change.

Also this week we have celebrated, albeit a bittersweet celebration for this Mama, Frank's first wobbly tooth.  

And we step not just into Autumn but into a new phase of Frank's life.  

Milk teeth are on their way out and big teeth on their way in.

We are talking about this as being exciting though my heart is a little sore at all this growing up.

We are also taking chamomilla, a homeopathic remedy for teething as Frank was a bit freaked out about his tooth being so loose.

And this Mama is taking deep breaths as her boy gets more beautiful by the day as he grows towards the man he will become...

that beach

Oh yes, it's summer for sure now and we spent a beautiful day at my favourite beach ...

All these pictures were taken as we left the beach hut that we had kindly been lent for the day and walked along the beach , en route to the van to make our way home.

We were tired, sun-kissed, sandy and at such peace with each other.

My heart was so happy in these moments.

 ~ the boy digs ~

 ~ oh, that beach ~

 ~ obligatory shot of my feet in the surf ~

 ~ writing his name ~

~ contemplating a bit more digging ~

Summer living is full for us this month, with family visits and fruit picking, late nights (it's the Olympics, you see, we have to see it all!!), concerts in catherdrals and football in the garden.  

This week saw me out for the count with some kind of virus, or maybe migraine (I've never had one but it felt like I have heard them described) for three days.  

Luckily lovely hubby stepped in on the day trips to farms and the like and now I am fighting fit and raring to go for another summer week.

Bring it on!

A Frank Update

This is Frank.
He has Type 1 Diabetes.
And he needs a haircut!

At the hospital this week Frank was weighed and measured and his HbA1c taken (7.7, up from last time but I am truly happy with anything under eight. So, even though I shall work even harder I am not unhappy with the result).
I had been concerned about Frank having lost weight after he jumped on the scales at home and seemed to be about 5 or so pounds lighter than I remembered from our last hospital visit.
So, at our appointment we looked at the numbers and the results of the blood tests were discussed and all seemed well.
I wasn't too embarrassed at having raised my concerns and was told that I had been right to do so. It does seem that our scales weigh lighter than those at the hospital but Frank is definitely looking slimmer, so I am pleased to have had my mind put to rest this time.
Anyone with a child with this condition will know that it is wise to keep alert to other changes as the chances of thyroid issues or coeliacs is higher in Type 1 Diabetics than in others.
I had convinced myself that we were facing a thyroid problem when in fact, at present at least, all seems to be well.
And I am so very grateful for the comments I received about this.
I found it hugely comforting.
Thank you.
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In other news I couldn't resist posting these photos from today as they really made me smile.
They illustrate something that I am aware of every day as Frank and I go about our days: we are wired differently.
We have been working today on making a board game to go into a story sack that were will be giving to another homeschooling family soon. Once we had done our game Frank got all excited about making another and so we did.
Well, I got the board ready with the numbers and then left him to create the game whilst I did some gardening.
Coming inside I brought some hyacinth flowers that were getting past their best and decided to make a spring garland for the front door.
So, I sat with my boy and did my girlie stuff whilst he made his game.
The contrast of what our brains love was wonderful!
I leave you to enjoy the pictures as they reveal our inner selves ...

And interestingly when I spellchecked this, the word coeliacs came up as cowlicks!
Cool.

light :: chai :: smoothie moustaches

Our breakfast table this morning saw us enjoying Berry Blast smoothies from Heather's Wholefood Kitchen and, for balance you understand, croissants alongside!
Today saw crisp clear blue skies, the like of which are so very welcome in February and which lift the spirits so immediately.
The light in the dining room at breakfast time (around 8am) was just gorgeous and here you can see our usual set up of diabetes kit, Lego instruction manuals and breakfast.
In this rather foodie post I must also mention that Andrew and I have been enjoying the odd chai made with rice milk of an evening. It has been lovely on these chilly evenings to sip something so gently spicy and warming.
I managed to give up tea and coffee about ten days ago.
I love both but had such a snotty heavy cold that I couldn't face the cow's milk I normally have in tea and the thought of a milky latte made me feel ill, so I went cold turkey on the caffeine and thus the milk.
After a couple of days I had a few hours when I would have gladly sold a kidney for a cup of really strong tea or coffee but then it was fine.
I had been using oat milk in cooking and smoothies but this week tried rice milk and prefer its taste. The problem here can be that these things are not so easy to come by. The big supermarket near me, for example, sells oat milk but not rice milk. For rice milk I have to travel further. I suppose it all boils down to me getting organised and buying in bulk as all these things are long life products anyway!
And, of course, how could I not post this picture of Frank with a great big smoothie moustache?! We've had smoothies twice this week already and I am finding them a great way to sneak all kinds of goodies into my suspicious around food boy!
The Wholefood Kitchen course is going really well and my intention for the course is to really increase my intake of veggies. I love them but admit I am lazy about eating loads of them. Fruit I manage more often but veggies take a bit more prep and I have committed myself to taking the time to make this happen.
This evenings meal of curried vegetable chowder was soooo tasty and will last two more meals, so the prep time really isn't wasted.
Happy Sunday to you all.

pancakes :: snow :: a quilt

In an attempt to record and share more of our days (because they are so immensely fascinating, you understand!) I am going to try to post often in the same way as Heather, whose daily posts have been a wonderful source of beauty and out-breaths recently.
We have taken to having pancakes for breakfast every Sunday and that little routine sees me jumping out of bed before the boys to pad downstairs and mix the batter, so it can sit for a while before we start cooking.
We each have our favourite topping.
Frank goes for agave syrup (although having read about it recently I will be removing it from the pantry soon) and Andrew and I go for lemon juice and maple syrup.
We get two pancakes each (big, thin ones like crepes) from a mix of 4floz oat milk, 1 egg, 4oz spelt flour, pinch salt and 1 tbsp oil.
It leaves us rather wanting a little more but that's no bad thing.

And the table always groans under the weight of Lego. Every meal!

We had snow last night.
About five inches and it drifted so in parts of the garden it was quite high.
Straight after pancakes we headed out, all layered up, to throw snowballs at each other and get thoroughly cold.
Today was the day when I realised I have a hole in my wellies and my feet were very cold very quickly.
My lovely blokes longjohns worked a treat though!

And in the late morning I managed to complete my first ever quilt. Here you can see it on the big bed, although it is for Frank and his little bed next to ours.
The fabric was from the V&A stall at a Knit & Stitch Show two years ago and is all based on fabrics from the V&A archives.
They are beautiful and I am so glad to have been able to keep them together.
You can see in this picture how we sleep.
Frank sleeps directly next to me in a little bed (Andrew cannily took a saw to a regular single bed and made a kind of Frankenstein's monster of a bed!).
Frank didn't used to sleep here, except when he was tiny, but I never rested well with him away from me.
This way we all sleep better and I can check on him frequently because, let's face it, the deep sleep we all used to enjoy pre-kids and especially pre-diabetic kids is AWOL for a while.
It works for us, for now.
He learnt to make snowballs today.
And throw them.
His little snow suit is one brought back from a Finnish flea market by a friend.
We rarely get this much snow but this suit is fabulous when we do.

Tomorrow the Wholefood Kitchen starts for Andrew and I.
Will post more on that in the morning.

In these days of long shadows

We are busy busy, busy preparing for a season of gift giving: making cards, writing gift tags, making Christmas treasure hunts, knitting, reading recipes and making choices, baking and general elving.
A few days ago Frank and I went to Frinton for fresh air and a race on the beach (he always wins, but only because I cry less at losing!) followed by fish & chips and a great score of a Scooby Doo puzzle in a charity shop.
It was blissful.
Blue, blue sky and just me and my boy on that beach.

It makes me happy, this stretch of coast. Always.

And then we stay home a lot too; making things, crafting, elving and baking.

I took this picture as a way of telling the tale of how I reached without looking for my coffee and nearly took a swig of a bowl of beads today!
They actually had to touch my lips before I realised it wasn't my drink.
Must use my eyes next time.

And more elving, preceded by a fun afternoon decorating the ginger biscuits we made in the morning.
Oh yes, we had fun with that one!

Hope you are enjoying your winter too!

And take note: these biscuits are NOT BURNT.
Neither are they strangely blue!

At Daymen's Hill Orchard

A few days ago Frank and I drove out towards Tiptree for a new adventure.
My friend Sue had told me of a family run fruit farm where you can pick your own apples and pears.
Moved to action by the evocative postings of some blogging friends in the US I wanted a little apple picking action of my own and in this Frank was a very willing partner.
It was just so very lovely.
The trees were groaning with the fruit and I filled a basket with pears and one with apples.
Notice Frank's stance here? He quickly adopted a defensive head-kind-of-down stance after being hit on the bonce one too many times as he pulled the fruit free.
This fruit was so very ready to fall it needed little encouragement!

Then he sloped off to eat blackberries direct from the bush whilst I paid and dreamt of all the yummy things I was going to make with all that fruit.
I so love autumn and it's days of plenty and those first signs of people lighting fires and wearing socks and scarves.

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And in the D-news we were at Addenbrooke's hospital for our quarterly pump clinic and check up and came away with some new ratios and some big smiles : 7.3.
Holding steady.

Randomness ... and a winner

Easter weekend has been amazing here and mostly because of the weather.

Hardly a cloud in the sky and hot, hot, hot.

The garden is already out of control and I can almost see the veggies growing. The chard from last summer is going to seed but as it's shooting flowers up so quickly I am letting it do so as I am fascinated by its strength and speed.

We have nettles you could lose a giraffe in and my chives are suddenly flowering in a big and blousy way.

Love it!

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I managed to finish this little sundress made from a pillow case that I picked up in a charity shop a while ago.

If I use the word "vintage" it will seem very desirable indeed!

I am going to send it to my sister's little girl, Nancy, who has the great red hair to go so well with these colours!

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We had Andrew's older children, Sarah and Tom, over today, along with their lovely Mum, Sue. Frank and all the rest of us enjoyed an Easter egg and Lindt bunny hunt in the garden.

I was just clearing up outside and found a couple of tiny, foil wrapped dark chocolate eggs that had been left in the sun.

I tried to pick them up very gently but they kind of exploded in my hand!

I was a chocolatey mess for a while there.

Rather befitting of the great chocolate festival that Easter has become.

Interestingly (and I am aware that I am playing fast and loose with that word here for some of you!) Frank's BG numbers have been in the low teens but holding steady, which is amazing as I have tried to make no references to him NOT having nibbles of chocolate today.

I just wanted to let him be.

To let him eat chocolate if he wanted to or leave it if he wanted to.

He isn't so bothered but I fear telling him he shouldn't and then seeing him really WANTING it because it's forbidden.

We'll see how that pans out in the future, hey?

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We also have a winner of the "breathe" poster.

As I only had five people interested I threw a dice.

Twice number six came up (!) and then came number two : Annicles.

So big congratulations to Anna.

If you could let me know your address I will pop it in the post to you as soon as I can.

I really hope you'll love it as much a I love mine.

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Also Andrew was just telling me that T1D friend he has adores the rather talented Tim Booth and met him today.

I was reminded of how much I love "James" and how I used to play this song at top volume in my classroom at the end of a long day, and only, I assure you, once all the kids were gone!

My, how it cleared the energy and brought joy rushing back in.

And we all need that.

What songs do that for you, I wonder?

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And my final act of randomness in my most random post to date is this:

I'm now off to watch "Ghostbusters".

Why?

It's such a fun film and I just heard Bill Murray say,

"Back off buddy, I'm a scientist".

It's going to be a great evening!

Springy Spring!

We have been enjoying amazing weather here and have been out and about enjoying the sun on our skin.

Spring has truly busted out and trees are heavy with blossom, flowers are blooming everywhere and Frank and I have enjoyed our first of many a big water fights in the garden.

He won as he had decided that I could use his teeny tiny water pistol and he could use the garden hose.

My, that water was cold!

Today I just wanted to share a couple of pictures from our week.

Colchester Castle and some of the flowers in the Castle Park.

Frank's latest portrait of his parents!

Hall Farm Restaurant and farm shop at Stratford St. Mary.

Great food, cute animals to look at, cool farm shop = fun morning out!

Post water fight, the winner does a victory lap of the garden!

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Back soon with a recipe for savoury biscuits.

Happy Eatser to you all!