If you try the patience of angels

It's been a while and here's why.

Someone has stolen my little boy and in his place put a child with multiple personalities who cannot make his mind up about anything. I kid ye not. Just under two months shy of his third birthday and we have finally arrived at the terrible twos. All those other things I thought were the terrible twos pale by comparison, heck I can't even remember what they were! We are on course for the terrifying tertiaries at this rate.

Life has become increasingly difficult in recent weeks for us both. I consider myself usually reasonably patient with him and people comment on how well behaved he is, but this new set of "I CAN'Ts" and "I DON'Ts" are proving worthy in their opponency of my composure. I've spoken before about how motherhood brought with it [for me] a marked heightening of emotions, an achievement unlocked upon sproglet entering the world if you will; I have NEVER been so mad with a small person EVER. I am ashamed at the end of each and every day about how I have felt about his meltdowns, but boy am I ready for his bedtime.

There are two sides to everything, often more and I'm sure beyond reasonable doubt the whole scenario is    pretty rubbish for him too. Crying approximately seven litres of tears a day must dehydrate him awfully and all the shouting at me must be making him hoarse! I jest (evil mummy). What else do I have? My child HATES ME! Unless he gets everything that he wants RIGHT NOW! then he is, of course, the picture of perfection. This is what it boils down to: we are locked into a battle of wills for sizeable portions of the day. 

On the other side of this coin of doom: he seems to be outgrowing naps which means we can do more, he has begun playing imaginatively and now calls other children we know his friends. His language is coming on leaps and bounds marred only by a reasonably frequent stammer (more on that another time). His little body is awash with hormones, emotions, demands, and new experiences. 

Of course I know he has a lot going on right now. If I thought there was a god I could blame the ridiculousness of the situations we end up disagreeing on on its sense of humour, but I don't. I shall instead focus on that it will  hopefully not be forever and that he is my boy and (as I tell him every night when I tuck him in) I love him more than anything in the whole universe. 

How can I not? Look at him!

<3

Thirty plus one and a few t-shirts to boot

Last Thursday I turned thirty one years of age folks. It may come as a surprise to hear that last year I turned thirty on the exact same day! If you were there with me on that night you too will bear the mental scars and I trust you to keep the secrets! I've written about turning thirty, what was going on then and this isn't about that. This is about how amazing this year has been!

What brought this to my attention? Other than the fact that it's going on around me? Gig t-shirts. I kid you not. Gig shirts hold a special place in my wardrobe heart wardrobe...heart...ah well, you get it. I have to really like a band to buy a shirt and considering my average gig attendance of the past 5 years or so has been between one and two per year, for me to go to SEVEN gigs between June 2011 and June 2012 is astonishing! (By the time June ends the figure will be nine, but who's counting?)

Upon reflection of this collection I notice that this year has had me see bands that I absolutely love and all of the gigs have been excellent, with the exception of one. I'm sad to say that Funeral For a Friend aren't a band I shall see live again. The singer's voice is strained and they seem to be under the misguided delusion that they are more metal/punk than they actually are. Inciting a circle pit at your own gig is lame. That said I still hold the music dear.

All of the others, though, were immense. The best of the year? Impossible to tell. Capdown for sheer transporting-me-back-ten-years factor and for not having lost an ounce of energy, Rise Against for being the first gig I went to with Matty since we got together (and it was bloody amazing), Nada Surf because it's Nada Surf who NEVER tour the UK, Orbital because those guys are back on form, Gaslight because it was their only UK show in forever and everyone there wanted to be there very much and Coheed? Coheed was all the way across the pond in Gainesville FL!

I like to get a shirt from shows I go to for a few reasons. Nostalgia - whenever I put it on I'm reminded of the event, how I felt, who I was with, what we did, where it was and all the other stuff that happens at gigs. I've bought and lost/donated to charity many, many gig shirts/sweaters. I regret getting rid of each and every one I no longer possess. All the memories of the fun times spent with friends and making new friends. And the dancing! Ah, the dancing! And the drinking, but mostly the dancing! I also like getting gig shirts because the chances are they'll be specific to the tour and you are unlikely to find them in stores or on merch sites. 

So anway, this post is more for me than for anyone else. I want to remember what a fantastic year 2012 has been so far and how far removed it is from 2011, how much can change if you really want it to, how much better life can be and gig shirts are how I choose to remember. It's for me to be able to look back at and smile when I think of all the fun times I've had, what has been accomplished and how much I have to look forward to right now.

Seriously. I might burst.

:-)

A crocheted peg/clothes pin bag

With a sad sigh I decommissioned my peg bag last week. It's served me well for the duration of it's tour, but it was no longer fit for purpose what with purpose being containing the pegs, not spewing them all over the floor for Isaac to then scarper off with! I made that one too, using some sort of vinyl fabric stuff which I shan't recommend for sewing because it's not ideal as it tears along the stitch line!! Anyhoo, that was three years ago and I've learned a lot since then. So. I needed a peg bag. I saw a few patterns online, but I'm essentially lazy and so decided to make a really reeeeeeeeally easy peasy one. Then I decided to write it down...

Crocheted peg bag/clothes pin bag

A few points before you read on. 
1. This is my first attempt at writing a pattern so please bear with me. 
2. I have quite a few pegs which it why it's so long.
3. Stripes are not compulsory and I haven't included them in the pattern.
4. Oh yes, I'm writing it in US crochet terminology because that's how I learned!


I used:
2 balls Rowan Hand Knit DK Cotton
4mm/G crochet hook
A wire coat hanger (I got plastic coated ones from Wilko's)
A circle of substantial cardboard (i.e.: not junk mail or cereal box, unless you layer it up)



Make a magic ring. If you have no idea what this is, see an instructional video here (although I only have two loops on my finger to begin with so I only pull the tail rather than faffing with pulling two loops).

Round 1: ch 3, (first stitch), 11 dc into ring, pull tight & join with ss into back loop of top ch of first ch 3 (12 st incl. ch 3)
Round 2: ch 3, (becomes last stitch of round) *2 dc into next dc* 11 times, dc into same st as ch 3 so that the ch 3 is your last st, join with a ss into back loop of top ch of ch 3 (24 st  incl. ch 3)
Round 3: ch 3, *2 dc into next dc, 1 dc into next dc* 11 times, 2 dc into dc before ch 3, join with a ss into back loop of top ch of ch 3 (36 st  incl. ch 3)
Round 4: ch 3, *2 dc into next dc, 1 dc into next 2 dc* 11 times, 2 dc into next dc, 1 dc into next dc & ch 3 becomes last st of round, join with a ss into  back loop of top ch of ch 3 (48 st  incl. ch 3)
Round 5: ch 3, *2 dc into next dc, 1 dc into next 3 dc* 11 times, 2 dc into next dc, 1 dc into next 2 dc  & ch 3 becomes last st of round, join with a ss into  back loop of top ch of ch 3 (60 st  incl. ch 3)
Round 6: ch 3, *2 dc into next dc, 1 dc into next 4 dc* 11 times, 2 dc into next dc, 1 dc into next 3 dc  & ch 3 becomes last st of round, join with a ss into back loop of top ch of ch 3 (72 st  incl. ch 3)
Round 7: ch 3, working into the back of the st only - dc in next dc & each dc around, join wit a ss into top ch of ch 3 (72 st incl. ch 3)
Round 8 - 28: ch 3, dc in each dc around (72 st incl. ch 3)
The final round may require some jiggery pokery on your part to do it how you want. I started by making the hook bit and bending it at a right angle to my crocheted round. I wanted it to be at the back of the bag which made things easier! After that I bent it round as I went so the shape was even and the right size.
Round 29: ch 2, hold the wire so that it sits on top of the dc, push your hook through the dc as you would normally so it goes under both loops of the st and the wire, yo and pull loop through, put hook over the wire, yo and pull through pulling tight so that the wire sits snugly inside your sc and isn't flapping about, carry on sc-ing in this way around the wire into each st around.

To finish off I did what I usually do at the end of a project worked in the round which is this: cut yarn with a good and long ish tail, pull tail through stitch, thread yarn into a needle, insert needle (from the back) into sc before ch 2 from beginning of round, pull through and insert needle back into st where tail originates and weave in ends.

Bend wire around hook part to secure and complete circular top.

Measure the radius of your base and use a compass to draw a circle on the cardboard. Alternatively you can draw around the base, but I am a geek and like to do things proper like. Place in the bottom of the bag. It doesn't need securing in any way because, let's face it, cardboard is inanimate and isn't likely to attempt escape. The cardboard isn't entirely necessary, but it prevents unsightly mis-shaping when the pegs are in-situ! I was planning on laminating my circle, but really couldn't be bothered. You could always crochet two circles and sew them together with a cardboard inner and then crochet up if you were really bothered about it roaming free inside your bag?

You can bend the opening to any shape you like and can even bend it flat so it shuts when not in use!

Et voila! The easiest peg bag EVER.

If you find any errors please let me know! Also if you do make one then I'd love to see it!

Home made nut milk

When Isaac first started to wean I made him hemp milk for his Weetabix and banana at breakfast time. What with one thing and another I stopped making fresh milk and slipped into buying soya milk. I've noticed that he is now quite snotty for much of the time. I'm aware that kids in nursery are renowned for being snotty, but I also know that my child isn't usually a snotty boy and that soya is very mucous forming. As we don't drink cow milk at home (you wanna know why? Aside from dairy farming being barbaric, read this, terrifying stuff to be sure) he consumes quite a lot of soya by way of milk and yoghurt. I'm not so keen on this as un-fermented soya (i.e.: pretty much everything we eat - milks, tofu, meat substitutes etc) isn't the wonder food stuff it's cracked up to be. Read about that here.

I don't really measure things when making milk, but I usually end up with about a litre at the end of it all.

Ingredients

-Approx 125g almonds*

-Sweetener (if desired) - I use agave nectar, but maple syrup works well too

-Water*

*The more/less nuts/water you use will change the consistency/creaminess of the milk.

Tools needed

-Blender - a good one

-Straining device - you can buy special nut milk bags, but I use a muslin square or a sieve

-Storage for finished product

Method

1. Soak the almonds in warm water overnight. Ensure they are covered completely by the water and there is room for them to swell. (Obvsiously it's going to cool, but that's ok!) Soaking them loosens the skins, increases the size of the nut, increases the nutritional value of the nut and makes the nutrients easier for your body to access, makes them easier to blend and improves the quality of the milk.

2. Empty the water and rinse the nuts. Peel the nuts. Sounds hard, but it's actually quite fun. You sort of squeeze them and they pop out of their skins! Be careful though, they don't half shoot out at a ferocious rate of knots! I've lost a few down the side of the cooker before!

3. Blend with water. My blender is a push down from the top sort of whizzer and can pulse/blend about 1/3 litre water at once so I divide the nuts into thirds and do it equally. I add a squeeze/pour of syrup to the nuts at this stage. The amount you use with depend entirely on how sweet you like your milk. I suggest starting with about a tablespoon for the entire litre. You might not even want to add sweetener if you're sweet enough already! I tend to pulse it all a few times then leave it whizzing for about 30 seconds...or as long and it will before it overheats...poor old whizzer that it is.

4. Strain. I put my muslin square over the neck of a wide jug and poke it down a bit so it forms a sort of bowl then fix it in place with an elastic band. Pour the water and pulverised nuts into the muslin. When as much of the fluid has strained through as is going to on its own, remove the elastic band, wring/twist the muslin  above the waste nuts and squeeze down forcing the excess out. Keep wringing and squeezing until all the excess has been squeezed out. You'll be surprised how much extra comes out! You could use a bowl and a sieve just as easily, but I don't expect it would be as effective as using a muslin. As I do mine in 1/3 litre batches I tend to pour one lot into the muslin/jug and then whiz the next lot while the first lot is straining. I only wring & squeeze when all of the nuts have been whizzed and strained.

5. Pour into storage receptacle. I used a glass bottle obtained quite cheaply from Ikea. Glass is better for storage of anything period. Plastic leaks all kinds of nasties and alters flavour. You'll need to shake it each time before you use it because the almond content will separate from the water. 

You needn't waste the remnants; I'm told it can be used in baking, but I've never been that adventurous!

I've made a couple of litres of almond milk now and Isaac likes it! I've made it both with and without skins on the nuts and I prefer without. The latter attempt owes to pure laziness on my part, but the extra effort really is worth it. Leaving the skins on is also much harder on your blender. You could make almond milk without soaking the almonds, but you'd need to blanch them because the skins are very bitter. It wouldn't be as nutritious as made with soaked nuts though. A good recipe for that method can be found here.

I assume the same recipe could be applied to any nuts, but would need to be modified. Hazelnuts have different skins so I don't know how that would work, you'd probably have to leave them on. Hemp milk is best made with de-hulled hemp seeds and no soaking required! The taste, however, is quite earthy and possibly acquired. I like natural tasting stuff though.

Here ends my nutty spiel. Despite my waffle it really is easy to do!

Much ado about bubbles

All kids LOVE bubbles. Fact.

Is it just me that calls them Michael Bubles?

A birthday "card"

In April this year my very dear friend Lou turned 30. At the time I had been in somewhat of a creative slump and decided it was high time I dusted off various crafty related tools. I've known her all of my life and didn't think a store bought card would suffice to represent the value I place on our friendship, no matter how many soppy verses it might contain. That only left the option of making one so I set about scouring the web for inspiration; I found myself perusing a page I bookmarked a looooong time ago: Sublime Stitching. I LOVE this site, the designs are gorgeous, not twee in the slightest and (most importantly) within my embroidery skill level! Anyhoo, I happened upon the book (which I have since purchased) and fell in love with the cover design. I'm not so hot at conjuring up my own designs and have no qualms borrowing, as long as credit is given...I don't make any profit from it either before anyone gets upset.  I made a few tweaks to the original to make it fit with the birthday affair et voila! 

Now, I know what you're thinking: that's not a card Sarah. You're absolutely right. It's not. I finished the embroidery and then started to panic about how I was going to make it into a card. Framing seemed a little excessive and I couldn't see how to turn it into an actual card without making a hash of it. It was suggested to me by a friend that perhaps turning it into a cushion might be a good idea and also offered some fabric that went with the theme. The same wonderful lady also showed me how to make the world's easiest cushion cover! It's amazing what happens when you verbalise panic - kudos Bec!

So there we have it, a 30th birthday "card" for my friend of old; here's to the next thirty years of being friends!

It's [not] a dress

One day a few weeks ago while thinking absent-mindedly about upcoming birthdays and was totally stumped as to what to get for a friend's daughter. I um-ed and ah-ed for a bit and then decided to make a nice little dress from a pattern I saw a while ago. I couldn't remember where it ws from, so I Googled it and found this one which looked almost identical. Now that I come to write this I cannot for the life of me locate a link. Gah! Anyhoo, it looked easy enough and half of it was crochet - how could I fail?

About a year ago I purchased a beautiful piece of Liberty fabric that had been reduced (massive win as it's usually approx. £21 per metre - yikes!) I decided to use that for this project. The button I gleaned from my hoard of spares and odds and another win was not needing to buy the cotton yarn for the trim as that had been making friends with my stash for about three years now! I once had grand designs for a Totoro hat, but  (considering the love/hate relationship I have with knitting) that's best left alone. Especially as Isaac is now far too big for the pattern sizings!

I digress...I do that a lot...back to the "dress".

The fabric part didn't take very long, but the measurements seem to concur with the finished item being far too restrictive to be a little girl's summer dress unless she wanted to stand around looking pretty rather than running around which is what every little girl I know does! Weird. I even added six more inches to the width to allow for more ruching!

So, I chopped a bit off, re-hemmed and made it a top instead; hopefully she'll be able to walk in this version!

I gave it to her today and await the verdict from my friend to see if fits her lovely little daughter. Fingers crossed eh?

Happy birthday L!

Update 12.06.06 - it fits!

What a load of old crock[ery]

I'd really really really love to be able to introduce you to my third baby, Lady Blue Camperoo. That post is going to have to wait for a plethora of mechanical reasons. In short: I purchased a 1986 VW T25 camper van about six weeks ago. She never made it home because the man I bought her from told more than a few porky pies about her condition. I learn by experience, this is one of them. Anyhoo, Lady Blue has spent the past six weeks at my local garage being repaired. 

Soooo...

My lovely friend (well, godsister - known her all of my life, my mum is her godmother and my mum is her godmother) Louisa over on onegirlandacampervan.com has also bought a VW T25. We are planning adventures together...obvs (!) She recently bought some beautiful vintage melamine dinnerware for her camping experiences. This made me realise that holy pants! We have nothing to eat from/out of when adventuring in Lady Blue! (See Lou, it works both ways!)

With several adventures planned this summer, the first of which is now less than two weeks away eeeeeek/squeeee!, I set out to rectify this instantly...well...about a week later...and...lo a behold eBay saved me...as it usually does when I'm in a tight spot.

I found theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese:

Aren't they purty?

Then I remembered my child is more than slightly addicted to sultana bran and so got to thinking about bowls. A few searches later and these found their way into my basket:

*drools*

All vintage and bee-u-tiful!

Matty (my lovely boyfriend and namer of this post) talks of mismatched cutlery at his house that we can use too *swoon* Well, I say mismatched, he says "it's just cutlery to me". Pah.

Right, that's enough of my salivating over inanimate objects!

See ya!

Two peas in a pod

I can post this now because I know she's got it!

Last month one of my dear school friends gave birth to two beautiful baby boys. Her first son was due on the same day as Isaac, but he came a whole month early and Isaac (in true Isaac style) came when he was good and ready. Neither of her pregnancies have been straightforward and I fully admire her strength and patience; I don't know how I'd handle being made to lie down for a month! But she did and there are three little people here as a result of her determination.

Here it is after a frighteningly expensive trip to the framers!

It's the second piece of embroidery I've done recently, more on the other one another time. I enjoy doing it, but never seem to keep anything I make! This is because I only seem to be motivated to make things for other people. Hmm. 

It's the first time I've used long and short stitch for shading, usually favouring satin stitch, but I wanted to try colour grading. I think it turned out quite well [for a first attempt].

That's all I have to say about it really. I hope she likes it!

P.S.: Postage to Germany is not cheap. And glass is not insured. BOO!

Nursery niggling

Isaac doesn't like being left by me anymore. I know I know, who likes being left, right? But. he used to love going to nursery and would quite happily run in to play without so much as a second glance back to Mummy for a kiss or wave goodbye. 

I think I messed up. 

When we got back from our holiday, after two weeks of not being at nursery, he stayed at his Daddy's house over night and was then taken to nursery the next morning by him. He was due to go back to Daddy's house that night so I figured it would be better if (rather than me picking him up and taking him down to Daddy's that evening) he was at nursery all day and if Daddy picked him up that night. I have a horrible feeling I was wrong and this has made him scream when I leave him there and when I also put him in bed for his day time nap.

I could be entirely wrong and it's just a phase. Who knows. Doesn't stop me beating myself up about it. As my friend says parenting decisions are, for her, are all about how much guilt she feels and boy do I feel it now.

He's fine the rest of the time, look see! He really is!

I didn't put the collar on him by the way, he desperately wanted to try it on. And the bra? Well, look how pleased he is that he did it "all by myself". HIS WORDS!!

I really wanted to take him out of nursery this morning; he only goes two mornings a week! That coupled with the biting incident of last week - aiy! However, the nursery lady says he's always fine the instant I'm gone and that he's happy for the rest of the day, he even eats his dinner now! He's always pleased to see me and we have a massive cuddle and he tells me he missed me. 

So. 

On we go, testing the waters of the parenting unknown.

No one said it was going to be easy...

Chompy children

My little sausage was bitten by another child at nursery today. I didn't really know how to react when I was told by his key-worker because my ex-husband's youngest was a biter so I can appreciate both side of the coin. Anyhoo, I think it looks pretty savage. Poor Pisaac :-(

Post-op pooch

Following my suspicions that Rinny wasn't her usual poochy self, last Friday I booked an appointment with the vet to check our little dog over and make sure she was ok. The appointment was at 6.50pm. By 7.20pm she had been admitted for iv fluids, a scan of her abdomen and a possible emergency spaying. Anyone who has a dog that they love as a member of their family will know how I felt when I left her there that evening.

Transpires she had a pyometra which is an infection of the reproductive system. Hers was the closed type (apparently a lot worse than the open kind as her uterus could rupture and have all sorts of horrible complications and can even be fatal). The vet phoned at 10.30pm to say the operation had been successful and then again the next day to tell us she was recovering well and could come home. We picked her up at 5.30pm on Saturday. She was obviously feeling uncomfortable, but was remarkably happy considering her  terrible ordeal. I've never been so pleased to see her!

The whole thing was over so quickly that I haven't really thought about it until now. I'm so incredibly glad I booked the appointment and that it was in time. She shivers because Isaac is quite loud and she doesn't like much it, but she was doing it even when he'd gone to bed and also when he was at nursery. Her breathing was also laboured. Google told me these things can mean a dog is in pain. Her abdomen was also rock hard while she shivering and she was getting though about 3 bowls of water a day which is unlike her. I feel so guilty that I didn't spot it earlier, but I can't change anything and she's better now.

The night she wasn't here was horribly and eerily quiet, we even had some space on the sofa! She's such a huge part of our lives and I'm eternally grateful to the veterinarians and veterinary nurses who looked after her while she was in there care. I'm also rather pleased I have insurance for her as £803 isn't really something I can budget around! She's completely worth it though, the happiness she brings us and the things we've been through in the five and a half years since I've been her pack leader. She's my furry baby and I love her to pieces.

She does like to sleep though. A lot! In-fact she sleeps more than any other dog I know, see exhibit A:

She does a lot of other stuff too, like woofing and playing and sniffing and running and chasing and guarding and licking and stretching and sofa hogging. I wouldn't have her any other way though. She's ace and the furry heart of our little family. I'm very glad to have her home, wombless or otherwise.

Goofball

Goofing around is second nature to my son, especially with stuff that cost lots of money! He's cute though...so I usually cave. Result = see below!

Hello! Hi! Bonjour! Hola! Hallo! Olá! 您好！Γεια σας! Dia duit! Helo!

Hello! And welcome to our new online home!

There isn't much here yet, but believe me, it's taken long enough and a few html tutorials to get it just how I want it! 

I've got a few post ideas up my sleeve and I'm looking forward to being able to introduce Lady Blue Camperoo...whenever she comes home...which has to be before 8th June because I need to drive her to parts southern... We've also got a busy summer full of exciting things which we're definitely going to want to tell you about.

Anyhoo, just dropping by to say hi, welcome and we'll see you really soon!

T.T.F.N.