The Ecstasy of Being Ordinary

Vintage Children's TV

I have hurt my back. I am not sure how I did it because we were only shoe shopping for back-to-school stuff but, there, it is done. Probably sitting in the same position for an age........it was so busy.

So we're home and the television is, I'm afraid, babysitting. Anyone who says they don't use that magical box to keep children occupied is a)a liar or b)a saint or c)have help, whether it's Hubby who's fortunately home or Granny.

But it is not CBeebies entertaining them. I think if I hear the theme to Doodle Do, those guys prancing inanely round about the number one, or actually anything on CBeebies I might scream. I know we have the best children's tv in the world, but still, I might scream.

Instead I am making the children watch Vintage TV. Yep, that's right, Pipkins! I was beyond excited to find this in a shop the other day. The children just looked a bit bemused while I squealed and jabbered excitedly about it.

Hartley Hare, Topov, Pig, Octavia.....ah. Such happy memories. Of course, if you're reading this and wondering what I'm on about then you are obviously too young and really, I don't want to know.

There are lots, I admit, that I didn't remember about Pipkins. Like it's set in a puppet shop. And the old guy who mumbles a lot. And the theme tune. But I remembered the "It's time" sequence with all the clocks and all the characters. Ah...happy days.

I also bought a trip back in time for Hubby (but his is a cartoon). My Vintage TV Library also includes Hector's House and Follyfoot Farm.

A little bit of quiet

Sometimes there are no words. Or there might be but once the floodgates open there might be no stopping them. Or there might be lots of words about lots of different things and not knowing which to pick you pick none.

In that case I think pictures or lists are good. Separately or together.

1. Autumn is on her way. I can feel her nudging at the doors. Spiders are coming in. Leaves are turning. I am not sure I am ready for her, even though she is my favourite season.
2. It is important to have things to look forward to. Proper things. Not just a latte and a magazine. Worrying that there is now nothing to look forward to is Not Good.
3. It has been a wonderful summer.
4. I don't want the holidays to be over but oh-my-god-if-I-don't-get-just-five-minutes-peace-I-am-going-to-go-bonkers. Actually, I might have already.
5. When my youngest asks for "some good food now please" what he actually means is "stop with the fruit and vegetables and healthy stuff and just give me the chocolate".
6. I think a cupboard without chocolate biscuits is like a vase without flowers. I think we may have to carry our own supply just in case we are ever caught short of "good food".
7. I am so bored with domestic stuff but love it in theory. How can that be?
8. I need to find my Happy With Domestic Stuff head. It has been missing a long time. I think I last saw it under the laundry.
9. Having lots of heads like Worzel Gummidge is good. I loved that show with John Pertwee. Am I showing my age now? I am officially old. All my friends who are older assure me I am not but I'm not convinced. I mean, they would say that wouldn't they?
10. Being content is, actually, a gift. Constantly striving is exhausting. I think they should teach that in schools too.

So, what have you done?

The summer holidays are in full swing and the weather, obviously, is mostly rubbish. But what of the rest of life that makes up the holidays?

Well, I still haven't tidied up the craft cupboard, despite wanting to do this before they broke up. Hmm. We also haven't paid a family visit to the allotment. Another hmmmm. And a Tut.

To be honest I'm not entirely sure what we've done. There has been a fair bit of seeing friends, sleepovers, a barbecue and, of course, that wonderful festival. Maybe that's the reason why it feels like we've done a lot when we actually haven't.

Still, they don't seem to be doing too badly for it. Thanks to my Benign Neglect parenting policy (more of that later) they have been reading books like nobody's business. My top tip for getting kids to read? Don't get Sky and encourage boredom. Seems to work for mine.

We're still in the middle of reorganising the house. I'm not sure how else to describe it. The piano's been moved which seems to have unleashed a torrent of music practice in the house. Well, with some members.

It is nice, this new found love for their instruments, if a little noisy. Still, mustn't grumble.

I'm writing this as a break from wading through all the flotsam of crud that is in our house (where does it all come from? Where will it all go?) as it is boring. But, like I tell the children, boredom is good for you. I think.

Things That Are Making Me Happy Right Now

Probably by the time you read this the list will be totally different. But here's a snapshot of my ole Happiness Dial and what is currently making it whiz round to Quite Blooming Happy Thank You Very Much.

• Just booked our holiday on a lovely looking campsite. Feel very pleased with this as I had, as usual, left it Very Late which is so stressful and something I'm not going to do next year. No I am not.
• Being able to take friends lovely pressies from my garden and allotment.
• Getting rid of old reusable nappies via Freecycle (only bit I didn't like was picking someone).
• The cup of tea (in a rose cup of course) I am about to make myself.
• It is not raining (will be, obviously, by the time I hit publish).
• Learning to crochet. Making me a tad frustrated but think I've conquered the first stitch (a chain?). Progress is slow but I think it is being made. Hard to tell really.

Not Bad Advice

A contender for the Words to Live By category perhaps? This category mostly lives in my head, but it doesn't hurt to have reminders. Which reminds me, I need to update that page of this blog -----> over there somewhere.

My other favourite is "comparison is the death of contentment" only I keep forgetting it. And you? Do you have any?

I Like Drinking Tea Out of a Rose Cup

 

I am on a budget. A budget that is squeezed so tight, it squeaks and has gone a little blue. It is not much fun, I have to say. There are no new books, or old books or any books at all. (I do know about the library but that is another post).

I have lost my Boots Advantage Card so cannot squirrel away those lovely points for the odd bottle of nail varnish or lipstick. The only books I manage to buy are for the children, so my Waterstone points are used to offset Thomas the Tank engine stories and ones about vampires falling in love.

Still, I'm not down and I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I just need to get a handle on my finances a bit better. Usually I'd buy a book (which probably explains why I'm in this position) so instead I shall trawl the internet for Tips.

I don't mean things like where to get the best deal on flights to New York, more on how to track and actually manage the money I do have better.

That said, I have treated myself. I know. Absolutely. Bloody. Useless. However, I did balance it carefully. I have been collecting flowery teacups that I find in charity shops and the other week found two. Two! If you knew the rubbish but expensive pickings found in the many charity shops in my nearest town you'd be amazed too.

They came to £5. Not much, but really an awful lot if you have nothing. The joy they give me though, seeing them sit on my kitchen shelves, and to drink from is priceless. They go well with my rose teapot and sugar bowl, none of which match save for the same flower.

And they will look lovely when I have my coffee bar sorted out. Oh yes, I'm still planning that one.

Sometimes you just have to find a chink of blue sky on grey days.

Why I Love Festivals

 
We have just come back from a weekend at a festival in Dorset and the magic still hasn't worn off yet. {contented sigh}. I just love 'em.

When you go to one you have to leave behind all sorts of preconceptions, mostly about litter and hygiene and going to toilet in a big container where other people have just gone (compost loos) and the price of beer and all sorts of things like that.

"Don't be giving it some. When you are in a field or a woodland area you must get with the meerkats and bring a good smile" the Cuban Brothers state in the festival tips found in the programme.

We went to Camp Bestival in Dorset, the family version I think of Bestival, and it was fab. Mostly. There were grim moments, such as lugging all our stuff from the car which, contrary to assurances, was indeed bloody miles away from the campsite.

Then there were the prices (£2.50 for a loaf of bread?), the crowds (especially on Saturday when day trippers are allowed in. Pah) and the loos (enough said).

But, despite all that, it still has to be pretty special if your overriding feeling about it was warm and fuzzy instead of angry and hard.

It was like being on a different, happy planet festooned with fairy lights, flags and fancy dress clad smiley people for a whole three days.

Oh look what fell into my shopping basket

I forgot to mention, mostly because I write this at the scrag end of the day, that I slipped a little something, or should that be somethings, into my shopping basket at Hobbycraft the other day.

Whenever I think about these things I feel a bit of a calm come over me, content in the knowledge that they're safely secreted away ready for when I need them (and no, I'm not talking about miniature bottles of gin, not that that sort of thing is sold in Hobbycraft anyway which is a shame as I needed some the other night but even a coffee shop would do, somewhere to rest my weary bones while young girls change their minds for the upteenth time).

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll ever use them, if they will even see the light of day again but I'm happy, for now, knowing they are there.

Yes, I have at last bought myself a crochet hook. Not just one. Oh no, I learnt my lesson after losing the one I bought about 12 months ago.

I bought four, which some people might consider a little bit greedy but I have come to think of myself as quite a bit greedy in matters of almost everything plus I didn't know what size I might need and didn't want to wait until there was room in my life for a trip to a craft or yarn shop because, quite frankly, I could be waiting a long time. Oh, and I bought some purple knitting needles.

I have got bamboo ones but they always seem to bend. I am not entirely sure what I do to them but there they are, resembling extremely thin bananas rather than some chic crafting tool.

I've tried crocheting in the past and was hopeless. Now I've been given a beginners' book so I'm good to go.

Or I might pick up my knitting again, but the only trouble with that is I leave it so long between goes I forget where I am. So maybe I'll just look at my new needles instead and think about crocheting or knitting....I'm sure the effect will be the same to my stress levels except, of course, I shall have nothing of any note to show.

Yes, I'm a bit fur coat and no knickers in the crafting department.

Oh, so I am getting organised...

I have finally got round to ticking off something on my to-do list: replenishing our art supplies in readiness for the summer holidays.

Together with the older girls, I visited my (fairly) local Hobbycraft shop. I expect I could have done it cheaper on the internet but as I'm not organised and needed the stuff now it seemed better to do it myself.

I always feel a bit overwhelmed in this store - it is vast and there is just so much choice. I end up thinking Oh, I'll come back when I have more time/money/am on my own and buy x, y, or z. Of course, I never do.

The girls loved it. There were many squeals of delight, lots of indecision, discussion, more squeals. I think I needed a bit more stamina but we all left with bags bulging.

Some of my haul included pegs, paper, doilies, paint, brushes, googley eyes and card. All the basics really. The girls went to town buying some small pieces of fabric, paper mache letters and boxes and a huge piece of card for a summer collage. Lucky things.

Obviously craft cupboards and creative children seem to be a bit of an obsession lately.

Preparing for the summer holidays

 

Every year I say to myself that I shall get organised for the holidays. Six weeks + five children = quite hard work. Of course, each year I fail spectacularly to achieve any kind of organisation.

I used to love the holidays but now, I admit, I'm not so keen. It's the guilt I think. I just cannot afford to whisk them off to theme parks, shows, the zoo.

And the cinema is out too. I'm still recovering from taking the three eldest and a little one to see something suitable for all, and the people in the row in front moved thanks to the general noise and distraction coming from one of our party.

Finding something that is suitable for all,who range in age from three to thirteen, is tricky if not impossible. Bike rides, perhaps (or would be possible if the eldest's hadn't been taken from the front garden), or National Trust visits (too boring maybe?).

I suppose I could pack them off to a playscheme for a week or two but there's usually a hefty amount of money involved and anyway, they would be horrified. To them the summer holidays means lazing around, eating lots, reading lots, watching tv lots (let's be realistic here) and seeing mates.

There are three things I need to sort out for the sake of my sanity: a few ground rules (like set snack times, doing chores even if they have mates round, giving me a break every so often), getting in an assortment of craft supplies and sorting out the craft cupboard (more on that here) and thinking up fun, cheap activities to do.

Hmmm. Not much to do then.