Category: summer

garden stuff · general stuff · summer · wildlife

Summer holiday kit (teenager style)

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)25 Comments

 

Well, I’m now the mum of a school leaver! Amy had her last A level exam yesterday and has officially left school.

When she was younger I used to love putting together a little summer holiday kit which I’d give to her when she got home on the last day of school term (here’s some from earlier years: 2011, 2010, 2009). They were full of treats and fun things for the summer ahead and included a little collection of vouchers for activities that she could cash in with me. I’ve not done one for the most of the years that she’s been at senior school as I felt that she thought it too babyish, but as this is the last summer before she goes off to uni I thought I’d re-instate the tradition, but with a teenage twist.

I’m using the same ‘vouchers’ that I made when she was 9 and am updating them with more suitable activities :

Pub lunch; Pimms picnic; walk in the woods followed by lunch at a local hand-made burger place; shopping trip… and it wouldn’t be summer without strawberry picking, so there will definitely be a voucher for that too.

If you want to make some vouchers for your own children (no matter what their ages) there’s a downloadable print-out that I made here: Download vouchers

It does feel odd to think that she’ll not be living here from September. I’m not yet sure how I feel about that – it’s an unfamiliar mix of excitement for her, mingled with concern, worry and hope. Like I say, an odd mix of feelings that I’ve not felt before. I’m certain that it’s right for her to be going off to Uni and where she’s going is the perfect Uni for her – it has such a friendly atmosphere and is not too big but it’s got a vibrant student life and is only just outside London so she has many options for her free time. Anyway, life is speeding ahead so it will be here in an eye blink.

My other little family is doing well. The second nest-ful of robin chicks has fledged, though not as successfully this time. Two didn’t make it, one dying during fledging probably due to an awkward landing and one was left dead in the nest. Of the three that have fledged two are still living in the garage and show no sign of wanting to leave, even though they fledged from the nest over a week ago. Meanwhile Mrs Robin has built a third nest – this time between two cans of paint on a shelf and Mr Robin is doing a good job of keeping his new offspring well fed, with a little help from me. I am so enjoying being a part of their little family and still find it a great privilege to be so trusted.

In knitting news I am still working on a new pattern, but progress is slow. I’ll keep you posted here when it’s ready and I also have a big batch of spring summer animals here that need my attention too – I’m not doing very well with time management at the moment and I think that I’ve had a harder time with Amy’s a levels than she has! Hopefully I’ll be feeling a little less anxious and a little more focused now they’re all done.

autism · countryside · general stuff · summer · wildlife

balance under a big sky

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)40 Comments

Sometimes being a parent means that you loose your sense of self a little. You are so focused on ensuring that everyone is fed, has clean clothes, that there’s milk in the fridge, toilet rolls in the cupboard and no-one has to go without breakfast because the bread has gone stale, that there’s not much time for anything you might want personally. I’ve felt a little like that recently. It’s probably magnified in our household because of Toby’s constant needs and the intensity of the school holidays but I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling a little parental self-annihilation at times. Over the last few months we’ve had a busy time helping Amy research Unis, H has been away from home more than before as his father is very poorly and overall the balance of life has been more hectic than relaxed. I’ve also been listening to friends excitedly talk about family holidays and have felt a pang of envy because we don’t holiday anymore (it’s too stressful for Toby and so by extension for us too). It’s not that I particularly wanted to go away anywhere this summer but I’ve realised that I do miss the excitement of doing something new, of being somewhere different and of having that sense of being on an adventure. So, earlier this week I left H in charge of after dinner parenting duties, took my backpack, camera and walking boots and drove out into the countryside.

I’m never usually out of an evening, unless it’s for a school parents evening or a concert that Amy’s taking part in, so just being out in the car at 7pm is a novelty for me and it did feel something like a small adventure. I drove to a local hill which has lovely views over the surrounding countryside and just walked until the sun disappeared below the horizon. I saw lots of rabbits, heaps of the big Roman snails particular to the hill, heard the alarming bark of a muntjac deer near by and saw the bats start to flit. Sadly I didn’t get to see a much-longed-for barn owl but heading back towards the car I was treated to a magnificent sky overhead and bathed in a sense of well-being and calm. Although my tiny adventure was less than 2 hours long and took place only a 15 minute drive away from home it did help enormously. Sometimes you just need to be humbled under a big sky.

It has reminded me that although being a mum to an almost-adult with special needs perhaps brings more intense parenting, there can still be time for me if I can be flexible with when that can be, what form it can take and if I embrace the small and simple pleasures that exist all around us but are sometimes overlooked and undervalued. It’s my plan to keep finding small and fortifying adventures on my own doorstep and I’d love to hear about what small adventures you’d choose to have – tell me in a comment below if you have time to x

 

crafts & knitting · garden stuff · general stuff · summer · wildlife

Late Summer

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)15 Comments

Our summer days have merged into a flow of lazy, mostly at home days and I’m at that point in the school summer hols where I can no longer remember which day of the week it is.

We’ve been spending lots of time outside; swinging gently in the shade or lazing on a picnic blanket in the garden; walking in the woods and over hills; riding on the little steam train near here and eating lots of ice-cream. It’s been mostly relaxing and Toby is coping. He’s also beginning to adapt to the lack of pudding that I mentioned in the previous post and though it’s still a work in progress it looks like petit filous yoghurts are becoming his new pudding of choice, which is a great relief!

Out in the garden things have been really productive this year. I’m still picking french beans, raspberries, rocket and kale and the cylindrical beetroot that I planted from seed has done really well and is deliciously fresh – seems I’m not the only one to think that either. Everything is still flowering too, the little oregano flowers are attracting lots of bees, hoverflies and butterflies and we’ve been watching the rapid growth of a surprise self-seeded sunflower.

There’s even been a little knitting going on: I’ve finally finished and blocked a shawl that has been languishing in a bag for a year or more (Dream Stripes by Berangere Cailliau, details here); have quite a few pairs of socks on the go, as I’m clearly still under the spell of the sock knitting fairy (above are Wildflower and Honeycomb socks by Olivia Villarreal, details here) and there have even been a few animals emerging from my knitting basket too (more on that another time).

We’ve got exactly a week left until school starts again so we’re just going to keep things simple here and try to savour the last summer break days, because days of warmth and sunshine are now numbered for this year. Mornings are becoming hazier and cooler, the evenings are shortening noticeably and the leaves in the woods are taking on that late summer dusty green. Autumn is waiting in the wings.

 

PS: I knew there was something I’d forget and that’s the pictures of the tiny cucamelons that a kind friend gave to me as seedlings. Incredibly and despite unwanted attention from slugs, snails and squirrels they actually have tiny fruits!