Saturday 20 August 2011

Friday 19 August 2011

This Moment - Togetherness



Inspired by Soulemama. Moments to treasure.

Sunday 14 August 2011

30 Day Vegan - Prep Work

Recipes have been chosen, such a delicious selection to choose from.
Shopping has been done.

And then with words and stunning pictures from her own kitchen, Heather of http://http://beautythatmoves.typepad.com/beauty_that_moves/
encourages us to spend some time in the kitchen, sorting, clearing, rearranging, preparing for the 30 days ahead.

Sundays were made for washing, pouring, tidying, labelling and after moving the CD player back into the kitchen ( DAB radio heading up to the bedroom I think ) some singing and dancing.



Stirring - applesauce and chopping and roasting - courgettes, onions and garlic for courgette and garlic soup made the kitchen smell divine.




With the kitchen feeling the place to be, heres to the next 30 days and beyond.


Thursday 11 August 2011

The Mystic Cookfire


The food made at The Mother Camp, cooked in a yurt, in the middle of a field has always been such a treat, a part of camp I really look forward to, nourishing soups, wonderful salads, chillis, curries, fresh cob baked bread and the porridge, always worth crawling out of your sleeping bag at some unearthly hour for.
So, a book full of those recipes, reminders of meals shared with friends old and new, camp fires, workshops and sunshine was always going to be good.
Written by one of your bestest friends, another huge tick.
Finding your name alongside a group of amazing women in the dedications, priceless.










The Mystic Cookfire written by Veronika Sophia Robinson.


Vegetarian recipes packed full of delicious goodness, written with love and care, packed with stunning illustrations, inspirational quotations and definitely worth going without the meat for.


And so, a new food adventure starts, 30 days of being vegan.


Monday 8 August 2011

Community Beauty. Summer 2011 : 4

Just off the pavement, a community project.

Marking the place where people gathered to swap stories, hear news and collect water.The village well.



Now a place to sit and reflect.



Or run round and round and round, chasing those fish.





And trying to catch that frog.


Friday 5 August 2011

This Moment - Summer 2011 : 2

This moment, inspired by soulemama.



Summer on a plate.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

The gift of knitting

Knitting to me is a complete pleasure, the best legacy my beloved Nana ever gave me.
There has always been the means to knit, yarn and needles tucked away somewhere throughout my life, even in my teens when a project was left on the needles for months, years and normally finally finished by my Nana.
I remember my first "go it alone" project, using the brightest colours and the wonkiest of stitches, a pinafore dress.I felt so very grown up, purchasing the yarn from a shop in Portland, Dorset and settling down seriously to a project with someone so special in mind, my new God daughter.I was 17 and the pride on my Nana's face when I showed her my first finished project, stays safely tucked in my heart.
Knitting has helped my through some tough times, given me purpose and healing.
The joy of creating to welcome a new life, a birthday celebrating toddler, a girlfriend, a family in need, friends, family,strangers is a gift, a true gift, one I cherish each and every day.
Recently, I passed on my legacy at The Mother Camp, sharing the knowledge given to me.I passed out Nana's needles to knitters, new and those that just needed reminding how to and together we created a blanket for a lovely couple, who were handfasted at camp.A true community effort, sparked, inspired and enabled by Mrs Ethel Joan Head, my Nana.


Poncho for a new little girl, perfect for baby wearing.


Yet another Pickle pattern.



And a bigger one.




Little socks, in rainbow colours for new little feet.

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Summer 2011 : 1

Life threw us some spanners and some rainbows, so blogging was put on hold.

The Spanners - A week each in hospital for K and I, different times and reasons.
My stay led to ear, throat and chest infections.
A week in Kuala Lumpur for N working, semi good for him ( well he was
working ) and very bad for me, fresh out of hospital.

The Rainbows - A day of Nurturing at http://http://theredthreadmotherscircle.blogspot.com/p/nurtured-family-nurtured-earth-2011.html
Weekend of fun in the Forest of Dean
Mother Camp in Yorkshire
Barefoot Festival
Celebrating 18 years of marriage

These events have all been wonderful, inspiring, revitalising, the true rainbows though,have been the people, friends old and new.
Time to sit, hold hands, laugh, smile, cry, listen and be.
Seeing children, growing, changing,blossoming.
Watching new friends, festival for the first time and seeing them indulge in every henna tattoo, face painting, glittery thing going.
Looking at my Love and knowing I did good.

Our garden, yet again, does us proud, Mother Earth, shares her bounty so willingly, even with us lazy, neglectful gardeners.
We topped up with a box of plants from Rocket Gardens http://http://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/?gclid=CK7u8sOksKoCFQoe4QodYVCqLw when we realised we had far too many bare spots.


And now we harvest, potatoes ( in our pjs of course ! ) courgettes, basil, lettuces, rocket, beans, peas,tomatoes, cucumbers, so many riches.
We make plans, thinking of storing, ready for the Winter ahead.
But mainly, for now, we sit back and marvel, give thanks and enjoy.

Summer Love to all x