love pockets

Happy Valentines Day to you all :-)

Yesterday during our afternoon quiet time I made these love pockets for the kids and I left them on the table for them to find this morning... They are about the size of your hand and filled with sheep's wool and lavender. On the front is a little pocket, just the right size to hold about a thousand kisses.

I made these to become part of our bedtime ritual. After dinner we have a bath and then a warm drink and a story. As I tuck the children into their beds I stroke their foreheads and whisper their prayer: 'May you be filled with loving kindness, May you be well. May you be peaceful and at ease. May you be happy.'
Then I kiss lots of times into my hand and slip the kisses into the children's hands. Benny needs 'loves' in each hand, in Lambie's pockets and under his pillow: enough to last the whole night.

A few days ago the kids were cuddled up together in bed reading a book and I over heard Rebe tell Benny that once she let the 'loves' fall out of her hand by mistake and she cried. So I thought I'd make them love pockets to keep their loves in.

I cut out a couple of love hearts in scrap fabric and another little 1.5 inch square in a contrasting fabric.

I chose something that each child would be drawn to.

I folded over and hemmed the little pocket then pinned it to the centre of one of the hearts.

I machined that on, and sewed around the edges leaving a gap for stuffing.

I used sheep's wool, thinking of it holding the children's own scent and warmth and I added a few drops of lavender. I would have put some dried lavender in it if I'd had it.

I finish sewing it up and filled the pockets with loves.

They are really pleased with them and I look forward to adding them to our little bedtime ritual.

I am going to leave you with my very favourite love poem in honor of Valentine's Day. It's by Adrian Henri and is so real. Enjoy :-)

Without You.

Without you every morning would feel like going back to work after a holiday,

Without you I couldn't stand the smell of the East Lancs Road,
Without you ghost ferries would cross the Mersey manned by skeleton crews,
Without you I'd probably feel happy and have more money and time and nothing to do with it, Without you I'd have to leave my stillborn poems on other people's doorsteps, wrapped in brown paper,
Without you there'sd never be sauce to put on sausage butties,
Without you plastic flowers in shop windows would just be plastic flowers in shop windows , Without you I'd spend my summers picking morosley over the remains of train crashes,
Without you white birds would wrench themselves free from my paintings and fly off dripping blood into the night,
Without you green apples wouldn't taste greener,
Without you Mothers wouldn't let their children play out after tea,
Without you every musician in the world would forget how to play the blues,
Without you Public Houses would be public again,
Without you the Sunday Times colour supplement would come out in black-and-white,
Without you indifferent colonels would shrug their shoulders and press the button,
Without you they'd stop changing the flowers in Piccadilly Gardens,
Without you Clark Kent would forget how to become Superman,
Without you Sunshine Breakfast would only consist of Cornflakes,
Without you there'd be no colour in Magic colouring books,
Without you Mahler's 8th would only be performed by street musicians in derelict houses, Without you they'd forget to put the salt in every packet of crisps,
Without you it would be an offence punishable by a fine of up to £200 or two months' imprisonment to be found in possession of curry powder,
Without you riot police are massing in quiet side streets,
Without you all streets would be one-way the other way,
Without you there'd be no one to kiss goodnight when we quarrel,
Without you the first martian to land would turn round and go away again,
Without you they'd forget to change the weather,
Without you blind men would sell unlucky heather,
Without you there would be
no landscapes/no stations/no houses no chip shops/no quiet villages/no seagull son beaches/no hopscotch on pavements/no night/no morning/there'd be no city no country
Without you

hugs x x