High Noon in Prettygate

Whilst I was preparing yummy carrot, curry and ginger soup from "Nourishing Traditions" my little family were all busy making our home cosy and clean for the days and weeks and months ahead.

Neko Case was playing very loudly in the kitchen, the door from the dining room to the garden was flung wide open, the air was mild and the sun was warm.

Budd was mowing his hair in preparation for mowing the grass. Isn't he beautiful?

Frank was fascinated (as always) by this and took a break from his hectic log loading schedule to watch. Isn't he also beautiful?

And Dobby the House Elf, sorry, Severine, was vacuuming and cleaning upstairs. She may even get promoted to an actual room of her own rather than the cupboard under the stairs if she carries on like this. She also whipped up a chicory and orange salad to go with the soup, bread and cheese. It goes without saying that she's beautiful too, being French and still in her twenties!

The soup was great. Really warming flavours. Frank wouldn't eat it but he's three and tells us frequently that he only likes to eat "just one thing" at a time. He then proceeds to have walnut bread, butter, yoghurt and an apple. They're fickle these pre-schoolers.

I will be back with more news soon as there is much to tell this week.

Life is moving on.

We are full of joy today and long may it continue.

Cooking with my boy

Picking and washing our grapes for making juice.

Joyful at being allowed to lick the flapjack pan clean!

Getting the frozen peas ready to add to the stir fry.

Fuzzy action shot of Frank slicing mushrooms and talking to me at the same time.

Since he was knee high to the proverbial grasshopper I have involved Frank in the preparation of our family's food. He is particularly fond of cutting up mushrooms, although he won't then eat them, and does extremely well making biscuits and flapjacks. He cleans out the bowls for me which cuts down on my washing up time. He also helps with weighing and measuring for the bread machine or for any bread we make by hand.

I remember cooking and baking with my Mum as I was growing up. I loved making things like peppermint creams and butterfly cakes, things that didn't help Mum at all towards to evening meal, but she patiently let me make the things I really wanted to. As Frank gets older I am sure he will want to make certain things and I hope that I will have the foresight to just encourage him and enjoy those special moments in the kitchen together. Only when he is grown up will I know of my efforts have paid off. It feels right and there is something so full of family connection in making the food together that we will then eat together. I don't believe children can ever be too young to be involved in this.

What did you cook or bake as a child?

Getting Crafty

After visiting Chilford Vineyard and the Patchwork exhibition at the weekend with my fab friend Pat, I ran up this little cushion cover for Frank from one of the many small pieces being sold. When I was putting him to bed the evening I made it I explained that I was going to make him a special cushion for snuggling on the sofa and resting on in the camper van. His little face lit up and so I left the completed cushion on the end of his bed for him to discover when he woke in the morning.
He came running in with it the following day and insisted on having it near him when he ate his morning porridge. It was covered in drips of oatmeal in seconds. I was momentarily dismayed but then swiftly got over myself as I reflected on what I had actually expected from the love match between a cushion and a porridge-fiend of a three year old!

There has also been a blanket from the book "Linen,Cotton, Wool" by Akiko Mano. In the book her minimalist blanket is all white and light. Mine is more suited to a lumberjack and family but has proven hugely popular among the whole family, Severine included. I found an old hospital blanket in the summerhouse and some fantastic soft brushed cotton at Franklins in Colchester. Vintage buttons will be sewn on each end to fix the two layers rather than the recommended bullion stitch. I have yet to do the buttons, as the blanket seems to be in constant use and so I can't get near it. It is true that it is cold here at the moment and we need our comfort. Maybe it's just right as it is...

I have also completed my Beaded Pulse Warmer from "Knitting Classic Style" by Veronik Avery.
I loved making this and will really enjoy wearing it I am sure.

That's the incomparable Eddy Merckx in the background there. He may have won the Tour de France five times and be one of the most amazing athletes ever, but can he knit a Beaded Pulse Warmer?

I think not.

Bat Sev to the rescue

There is a lot going on up here on Muffin Moon Mountain. I am on fever watch as Frank lies sleeping in my bed. Type 1 and fevers do not a happy marriage make. This will be a short post and I've had no time for Bench Monday either.

However, darling Sev, on feeling the stressed Mummy vibes when she got in from town this evening has leapt into action Batman style and baked a chocolate orange cake. Perhaps there was a silent distress call from me, a yellow Converse sign lit up the sky and she came out of the Sev Cave to help me in my hour of need. She brought my hefty slice to me with creme fraiche and slices of ripe pear.

Vive friends that bake!

Vive freinds that know how you are feeling almost before you do!

And a huge VIVE to Sev!

Still Life with Needles

My knitting projects in progress, a completed hat and Frank's insulin pens and needles.

On October 10th 2008, just after 5pm, my boy was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

He was just 2 years old.

I had taken him to the doctor to get diabetes ruled out. He had been demanding water all day and right through the night and we were exhausted getting up so frequently to fill his little sippy cups. He was also soaking through his nappies in about half an hour. The washing machine was on constantly. Bedding was changed twice a night and we were kind of lurching from day to day not really registering that our routine was abnormal and our child was ill.

When Doctor Tarala pricked his finger and tested the drop of blood that came out he registered at 19.4. She didn't say anything but just looked over at the nurse, Louise, whom I had known through friends for years. Louise looked at me and just said "Sorry, Julie". I cried immediately. Quiet tears so as not to frighten Frank. Dr. Tarala called the children's ward there and then and booked a bed for us. We went home for dinner, packed a bag and went straight to the hospital.

Reeling.

Shortly after that I took up knitting again. Frank was into CBeebies for half an hour of an evening and I needed something to occupy my hands then and during other hospital and doctor appointments. Knitting helped me so much at the time to have a focus other than diabetes. It went some way to quieting the white noise in my head. It still provides such solace as I tap into a creativity I remember having as a teenager. I have even started sewing again and will blog my completed projects soon.

So, there are needles and needles and needles in my house. Some are for relaxing and some are used to keep my baby alive.

I love them all.

Bench Monday - Vintage Style

I spent a long time today pondering what my take on Bench Monday should be. Mondays are my night out with my fab friend, Lynne. I go to her place in the van, park up and we then walk into town for tea and talk at the cafe in the cinema. It's always such fun and much cheaper than therapy. The world gets put to rights, there is some moaning and we talk about ourselves, our shrivelling careers and child rearing philosophies.

This evening one of my moans was that it costs so much to order anything from etsy that I would have needed to pay 23 dollars to have a felted gnome for the nature table. It is, I have to admit, not top of my things to moan about list but Lynne immediately sensed the importance of a gnomeless nature table and offered me one that she has. I accepted and am very grateful.
It got me to thinking about gnomes in general and about the hat my sister gave us when Frank was born and that he wore on our trip his first Autumn. People in Denmark kept commenting on his resemblance to a gnome.

So, Bench Monday : Vintage Style offers you Frank the Gnome (and he's on a bench!).

The eyes of a child

Frank has been developing an interest in having a go with the camera especially since I have been using it a lot more for the blog. Yesterday we went to the wonderful Beth Chatto Gardens and I took some photos of some red hot pokers. Frank then wanted to do the same. His picture made them loom so much more. I need to take the time to see the world through is eyes and to understand that his basic sensory experiences are so different to mine. For starters they start about three feet below mine!

And then today, at half three, I was so tired having been awake since 6am ,plus woken in mutant ninja toddler style to boot, and lying on the big bed with him upstairs reading Dr. Dog and Roary the Racing Car that my eyes closed for a moment and he was let loose with my camera. Budd joined us after a while and Frank managed to notch up 115 shots. The best are here.

His blood sugar as been stabilising after the last few days of cold and fever and his energy is soaring. He has his appetite back and as I write this I can hear him downstairs ordering his Daddy around whilst Sev chops veg.

And me? I am sitting in bed writing this. A stolen half hour. The best kind. Thanks Budd.