garden stuff · general stuff

snippets of summer: garden

I'm afraid I'm not getting much computer time
at the moment – young master Toby has other ideas for keeping me busy. Today though he is elsewhere so I
thought I'd pop in and show you some snippets of recent days in the
garden.

We've been…lazing in the hot sunny weather and blue summer skies and then
scrambling about like mad to gather in washing and toys in the sudden
heavy downpours, marvelling at the dramatic clouds as the storms blow over, eating chilled
nectarines from the farmer's market and homegrown salads picked fresh from the garden and enjoying the rampant growth of
everything in the garden and all of the attendant wildlife.

Doubleweb

Summer rain

Cloud

Blueskies

Nectarine2

Lettuce

Hydrangea

Violas

Frenchbean

French bean

Bee

As I mentioned keeping Toby occupied and safe is a full time job as he needs constant supervision to keep him out of mischief (thank goodness for CHIPs summer club and respite days that have given me some time off). Sometimes though the mischief is of the playful kind – I snapped this yesterday evening when I was making a cup of tea, I turned my back to empty the pot after warming it and turned back to find him wearing the warm cosy as a hat and sniffing the teabags (sniffing everything is his new thing at the moment). He found it very funny!

 

Toby tea

I hope to pop back soon with some snippets of summer knitting. All of
the hot weather hasn't made me feel much like plunging my hands into
wool but I have still managed to add to my large basket of stuff in
progress ๐Ÿ™‚

See you soon, keep well and happy x

garden stuff · general stuff

summer hols

The school summer holidays have arrived here. Amy is excited and busy making all sorts of plans to be out with friends, while I'm doing my best not to feel panic at the thought of 43 days to fill with activities for Toby. Previous experience though has taught me to take each day as it finds us and go with the flow as much as possible, so in some ways I feel prepared and he does have a few CHIPs club and respite days booked in so I'll definitely be putting my feet up with my knitting on those days. As usual we're holidaying at home but I'm happy with that. With the new room at the end of the garden and the weather being so hot and sunny it feels just like being on holiday in the Mediterranean but without all the hot and bothered hassle of actually getting there ๐Ÿ™‚

The warm weather paired with lots of watering has really helped the plants grow here. My little mixed bed of herbs, vegetables and flowers is doing very nicely…

 

Vegbed4

 

Vegbed3

 

Vegbed2

 

and I'm really pleased with the rusted iron plant support which is forming a frame for dwarf french beans to climb.

 

Beans

H has worked so hard and completed all the paving and laid new grass.

 

Room3

 

Room4

 

And the room itself is now completely finished and getting lots of use. It feels like a little haven of peace and a place for year round holidays for us all.

 

Room

 

Room2

 

Window

So that's us for the holidays, what are you up to?

Whether you're venturing afar or staying at home I wish you happy times. I plan to pop in from time to time so hope to see you soon x

…………………………………………………………………………

 

PS: If you're a bunny knitter and have made one from my patterns then please come over and join the little cotton rabbits ravelry group. At the moment we're have a fun and friendly contest ๐Ÿ™‚ with the theme of bunnies on vacation.

 

 

 

autism · crafts & knitting · general stuff

summer days

Summer has arrived here in this little corner of England. The last few days have been wonderful weather-wise and over the weekend our whole family has been outside  – the sunshine even coaxed Amy out of the teenage stereotype of preferring bedroom living ๐Ÿ™‚

I've been sitting in the shade at the end of the garden and working on some end of term presents for Toby's teachers. I plan to pair each strawberry bookmark with a pretty note book and pencil and wrap them up nicely.

 

Strawberrymaking

Free pattern from Pezdiva (with a few adaptations).

 

Strawbs

Toby has of course been enjoying bouncing, swinging and paddling

 

Paddling pool

even the chicken has been enjoying the hot weather with a paddle in her own pool

 

Paddling

Poor H has been the only one not relaxing or keeping cool – he's still been hard at work building paths and paving around the garden room.

 

Garden work

I am also working on a little batch of knitted animals. It's been a while since I offered any for sale so I hope to have them finished soon, I'll post some pictures when they're ready.

Talking of knitting, thanks so much to Love Knitting for featuring little cotton rabbits as their blog of the week last week.

Thanks too to all of the people who sent me emails and messages about the book of the week on radio 4. 'The reason I jump' is written by Naoki Higashida an autistic boy living in Japan and takes the form of questions put to him and his answers. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking insight into the world seen from an autistic perspective. My copy arrived yesterday and I'm already halfway through (and scribbling notes to myself as I go). The introduction by David Mitchell is brilliant and any parent of an autistic child will be nodding in agreement and probably like me welling up with tears at reading things that so often go unsaid.

 

Book2

The book itself is revelatory and has again made me tearful many times, both in recognition of the huge implications it could have in the way that others perceive those with autism and because current state schooling often deeply underestimates and mis-interprets many autistic children. My head is literally buzzing and I'm trying to think where we go from here in order to give Toby a way of communicating all that is in his head (rather than just his basic wants), because there is a lot more going on in there than most people give him credit for. I'd urge anyone involved with any aspect of caring for autistic people to read this book, it is an eye-opener and has the potential to change lives.

Thanks as always for popping in to visit. See you again soon