It is a Saturday morning in September, and it is a really lovely morning (translation: dry, not raining), and our boys and Fergal are doing all those necessary Autumnal jobs- clearing out sheds and polytunnel for the winter, stacking wood, and finding “treasures” long buried in the garden. Baby is asleep, hence my getting a while to write this! I have made a few attempts already this morning, but our smallest boy (almost 5) just HAD to do some maths in a maths book, and I had to go looking for a workbook suitable for him to use. I couldn’t find one for his age-group, but found one for a couple of years older, but let him have a go anyway, and boy, was I impressed!!! Sometimes as we home-educate, I start questioning whether we have made “The Right Decision”, as we don’t have the same benchmarks that schools have; but then our children do something that is so quantifiable, and do it with such ease and aplomb, and I know that we are so definitely on the right track, and that they are right up there with their school-going peers. (Whew!! ha ha)

We have had a busy week, but packed so much in. I started back teaching painting here in our kitchen on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, so that sparked a mammoth cleaning purge to have the house ‘just right’. And it really has been so lovely to come down to a TIDY house in the morning. I am endeavouring to do the Flylady (http://www.flylady.net/) every day to keep the space the way it is presently, and I’ve managed five days now, so that has to mean something…. (I hope) We are also painting and sorting out our bedroom, so I reckon there is something definitely in the air… Autumn, perhaps…

And in the middle of the madness, needing a quick break from the crochet (end in sight!!!!) I made some baby blankets. I had some gorgeous fleece, and other cotton fabrics and have been thinking about different combinations for a while. So I made this- quilted patchwork on one side, backed by this really gorgeous Laura Ashley cotton,and these: fleece on one side, backed with cotton on the other. I have had this farm fabric for years, never having quite the right project to use it in; and being a polka-dot nut, couldn’t resist this yellow and white polka-dat fabric; has to be my favourite.

I feel like I got the blanket bug out of my system for a bit, long enough I hope to finish our bench cushions!!, and adding to the stash of utter delights for our handmade@theNest weekend in October. On that utter-delights note, aren’t these patchwork cushions (above) just SO CUTE?These were made by Gemma, who is only 14, and another ultra-crafter!! Gemma is also home-educated, so for me it’s great to see older Home Ed kids, self motivated and making and creating: and isn’t it great to have that time to make and do… makes me want to take out my boxes of craft supplies and get stuck in!!

And on a final note, I went over to my friend Tara’s house yesterday. Tara’s mother and my mother were great pals when we were growing up, and by an absolute act of fate, we have ended up only 20 minutes drive away from each other, having not seen each other for about 15 years! So I can talk about people and places- Meeting Lane, Crib Road, Perrys, without having to ever explain where or who, and it really makes me feel like home. Tara and I have a bit of a (unspoken) bake-off, so I know that when I go over there she’ll feed me like a queen (her husband, Pat, (the “BatMan”, as he will hence be fondly known) always knows when I’ve been over- from the quality of the crumbs of cake left, ha ha ha)

Tara has also the most extraordinary aesthetic (just like her mother, I must say), and her house always reminds me of something from “Country Living”. Recently she renovated this beautiful (truly vintage!!) wall cupboard, and it is now filled with all these pieces of china she inherited from her Grandmother, and collected along the way. Note the painting she painted this week! And the scones (melt-in-the-mouth)!! all I can say is…

Boy, oh boy, Don’t I choose my friends well??!! 

I’m trying to work out orders of wooden toys for our shop for Christmas- wooden train sets, pedal-free bicycles, wheelybugs, wooden cash register for all the budding shop owners…. this must be my favourite part of the job!!! My youngest son, almost five, has a list of about twenty “definites” -eeek!!! (hate to disappoint, but…)

Meanwhile, when I sit down later I’ll be back to crochet-I have three crochet workers (a.k.a. crochet slaves) helping me crochet four long bench cushions for Kellys Pub in Galway since the others were STOLEN (you know who you are) Hopefully these ones won’t be as easy to shove under a jumper and walk out… We have a plan, and gorgeous cotton yarn (see previous post), so my hopes are high that these will be just as lovely!! 

(I’m here breastfeeding baby as I type, and every few seconds a foot bends up and types a few letters, so if I have any typos, apologies)

I have a pile of post to send off today, cards I have been meaning to write for ages and eventually getting around to it. I’ll put up a picture of the bag I made for Liz, the lady who ‘gave’ us our little fluffy dog, Pebbles. WEEKS later and it is only being posted. TUT TUT.

The little dolly to the front is one of the Waldorf-inspired dolls I’ve been making (in my free time, ha ha ha), Once I have a face embroidered on I’ll post detailed photos. I’m so chuffed with them. I especially love the fluffy nappies!! I’m thinking of having a weekend in October where we showcase all the “handmade” delights rather than drip-feeding them onto the shop site as they come through- oooh, the lovely baby blankets, dolls, cards, cushions, felted mobiles that we will have in our shop for Christmas!!! The anticipation makes up for the rotten weather over the summer (just about).

I was about to say that I was going to head off and have a cup of tea and a slice of the most delectable banana and chocolate bread I made yesterday, but, lo! My three little savages have scoffed it all (we’ll have to work on their definition of “some”) A plain biscuit for me then……..