spring busy-ness

We're really loving the easter break right now. Rebe has been at home for nearly a week and we have easily fallen out of the school routine and into our own family one. We have been busy doing lots of lovely things.
Andy is still looking for work, but in the mean time he is being kept very busy with this:Some very special friends of ours own a farm about a five minute drive from our house (on the way to Rebe's school) and very, very kindly they have given us a drill (that's a row, for all you non-agricultural types;-) )in one of their fields to grow some veg.
We have been going up as a family to work a little preparing the drill and planning our attack (well really we have been drinking lots of tea and chatting, but it's nearly the same).
A few days ago we were ready to start planting out some seedlings that Andy has been bringing on in the green house. There it is, our first planting :-)

At the top and the bottom of the drills, Amanda (the friend I was telling you of) and I created a little flat area for our kids to play while we are working.It's great fun, I love going there. There are so many wonderful things about doing this: we are out in the fresh air, the scenery is incredible, we are doing something as a family, we are getting exercise, growing food, we are spending time and forming bonds with friends...I could go on and on. We thank Amanda and Scott from the bottom of our hearts for letting us do this. We are so excited about our first 'crop' being in the ground. I'm thinking once the sowing is done we should celebrate, perhaps a sun cake and raindrop drinks? Something like that...any suggestions?I've also been busy making dolls. I have just finished these two custom order dolls. I am really enjoying making dolls at the moment and I am getting lots and lots of orders. In fact, I am pretty booked up until September! Very excitingly, I am getting a new (vintage) sewing machine soon. I have been borrowing a friend's machine for nearly a year now and I finally have found what I want to get one, and my lovely parents are getting it for me as a very early birthday present. Eeeek!

To say thank you for loaning me her machine I am giving B a lesson in doll making and we hope to make her son his 1st Birthday doll together. I'm very excited about this as I have been acpproached by a few people now to show them how to make waldorf dolls. In fact the Arts Centre in Ennis, Co Clare has been in touch asking if I could teach a course there (accommodation in the Burren included!!). Wow I am so honored, baring in mind I have only been making these dolls for 18 months!

The other doll-making news I have will wait for a while, but the whole thing has taken on a bit of a new angle for me which I am very humbled and excited about. I will write more about this some other time.

Of course I am leaving time in my busyness for my own crafting and thinking of the kid's birthdays a few months away...can the boys really be turning 2 and 4?!?!

What about you? What have you been doing?