a wee catch up...

Life has been so busy here, so full, so happy that there has been little time for taking pictures let alone finding the time to sit down blog about all our goings on. So this post will be a mish mash of the last few weeks, a little taste of our lovely, happy busy life.

 On Good Friday the pubs are closed here so Garry has a tradition of having his first BBQ of the year. He brought down his big BBQ and we invited some friends and neighbours. It was brilliant, with kids running around, music playing, lots of chatter and eating and drinking.

 The lifeboat went out on exercise and as pretty much everyone present was in some way connected to the boat we all lined up to wave and cheer.

 Easter Sunday was a beautiful sunny morning and the Easter Bunny had been here hiding tiny chocolate eggs all over the garden.

What treasure!

 

A few days later we met up with my friend Lucy and her kids for a damp picnic in a park...

 before we headed over the airport to pick up my mum.

Bubs was with us for a whole week. It was really lovely, we hadn't seen her since last July when we visited her in the UK, so we had loads to catch up on and of course she met Garry for the first time. They really hit it off and she left promising to sew him an Elvis suit for his birthday!

 We did some lovely things with the kids like swimming and going to a puppet making workshop. We took them to the pub for dinner and to the park. We also had lots of child free time while they were with Andy so we could wander round the shops, have lunch and coffee and sit quietly together knitting. I have a particularly special memory of sitting next to my mum in the garden knitting away watching the clouds thicken and darken on the other side of the estuary and listening to the thunder as they rolled in.

We've been busy at home...
We bought a new car! It's fab, lots of room for all the kids and dogs, a real family car and we're delighted with it.

We have also been busy in the garden trying our very best to make it dog proof although Spartacus seems to be able to squeeze through the smallest gaps to take himself off for a walk on the beach or in the woods.
Garry, with lots of supervision and help from Benny and Joa repaired the green house and I spent a few days washing the windows and preparing the beds for the seedlings to go in.

 Everything is planted now, and doing well, we have cucumbers, tomatoes, courgettes, spinach, lettuce, beans and rocket.

The kids are doing great, they've been busy in their own way too, discovering new likes...

 We found some goose eggs in the farmers market last week and Benny loves them, and they make super paper to draw on!

The boys have definitely had a growth and development spurt, not only do all their clothes look suddenly ridiculously small on them, they have both found new skills.

Joa can write his own name and last week, quite by accident, Benny discovered that he can swim. We found a pool locally that we can use without being members and have visited 3 times so far. On our last trip Benny was trying swimming with a float and it got away from him. He swam after it and found out that he can swim! He built up his confidence a little swimming from the side to me before setting off and swimming the whole length of the pool.

The staff at the pool were so delighted for him they 'awarded' him a smoothie for his achievement.
With all the busyness and being back at school again I often find the kids like this...

cuddled up to a dog or two. They find so much comfort and peace and also fun in the dogs, it's very special to see.

In other news... the bluebells are out....and the pictures speak for themselves...

 I have been back at work in the studio this last week and find myself working on 8 dolls simultaneously....how did that happen!!!

 But I'm having so much fun and enjoying each project I'm working on.

And finally....
Today was my first experience of Garry getting a shout to go out on a rescue with the lifeboat. We were getting up and getting the kids ready for school when his pager went off. He quickly got dressed said 'I've got to go' kissed me goodbye and went off. A short while later we saw the boat leave the harbour and we went out to the garden to wave them off. I found myself feeling quite anxious, wondering if I should go about my normal day, feeling torn and wanting to stay here, close to the window to watch for him coming back in again. I decided to go to the market after the school run and met a friend there who's husband is also on the lifeboat. She filled me in a little more about what the shout was (Garry's phone was out of credit so he couldn't text me himself to tell me). A trawler had lost power about 25 miles out to sea and needed to be brought back in. I felt much better knowing that everyone was safe, but my heart went out to them knowing it would be a very long and tiring trip. I posted my feelings on my facebook page and my friend's husband saw it and very kindly reassured me with this picture and these words....

'I think he'll be OK'

Which made me laugh and laugh and did make me feel relieved. I just got a call from Garry, they are back in Cork and have delivered the trawler safe and sound and are now facing another 3 hour trip to get back home again. I am so proud to be with this man, who does this out of kindness, out of respect and for nothing in return. He's some man and I am so happy that he is part of my life!

So that was my wee catch up, now back to work on all those dolls :-)

loads a kids, loads a dogs...

... him, me and the beach...

What a wonderful afternoon we had: running, playing fetch, digging, building sand castles, picnic in a wolf's cave, falling into rock pools, finding caterpillars, chatting, making dams, smiling, having fun until dark :-)

sometimes...

...when it's raining hard and you've been dragged around the supermarket all morning and are cranky from watching too long a movie and eating too many smarties from the top of tomorrow's cake and you're so excited about turning 8 tomorrow it's making you frantic.... the only the thing to do is put on your wellies and coat, grab a rod you made from bamboo, wool and a bead.... and go fishing....

the ewe experience 2013

One of our most favourite place in the world to visit is the Ewe experience, a sculpture garden in west Cork. It's becoming a summer tradition. Last year we went in the pouring rain, this year it was glorious and there were lots of new things to discover and enjoy. Joa was too little to remember any of it from before so it was all new to him. So special to watch the magic work through him seeing it all for the first time.

life is good

Life is good and lovely here.

There is a definite chill in the air in the mornings and evenings, summer is coming to an end. But what a glorious summer it has been.

I've been working in the garden a fair bit this weekend, tidying up and taming the somewhat unruly greenhouse.

beetroot, so beautiful

i'm really enjoying these tender, spicy salad leaves

the tomatoes are doing really well and are working away hard at ripening their fruit...this is them after I cut back loads of foliage!

all the little 'windfalls' I knocked off, waiting to ripen now on the window sill

no shortage of cucumbers

that I am starting to make into pickles

 We have also been starting to think about going back to school, gathering up uniforms and books,

 and a very first pencil case for a very excited boy :-)

 I just wanted to document this, that very occasionally  people do actually play with dolls in this house (very occasionally that is...so ironic!)

 Rebe made me another coffee cozy, upcycled from an old sweater.

We went to the beach yesterday and Rebe did a bit of nature crafting.

at first she made a boat out of feathers tied onto a twig with some tough grass, but this didn't float too well

I find that when we go to the beach or the woods with empty hands, not taking spades or kites or boats, the kids really invent some awesome games and make wonderful creations of their own. They just need a little time to be free and they find they have everything they need right there provided for them.

so she found a pointed stone and made an arrow instead

very kindly she gave it to Benny to hunt with

 Who knew how many birds and sabre toothed tigers and buffalo and warthog and deer lived on the beach

 They cooked all the meat over camp fires and even baked corn bread from mashed up grass seed. We ate like Kings!

 A certain little girl is turning 8 on Friday and asked me (over and over again) to make her a squirrel wearing a red knitted jumper.

 I finished him today. He is made of an upcycled wool jumper that I felted. He has button jointed limbs which can move. I covered his tail with a knitted 'sock' using some fabby orange boucle yarn.

He has a soft red wool jumper that closes at the back of the neck with a wee hedgehog button. I hope she'll like him!!