autism

The haircut

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)122 Comments

Toby has never liked having his hair cut. In fact since he was old enough to need it, haircut time has been a source of considerable stress for both him and me. We've only ever attempted to have it professionally cut twice (and neither time ended well) so it has always been my job to do the best that I can to keep his hair at a manageable length. When I was at school, if someone had a particularly bad haircut we used to say "you lose a fight with a lawnmower?" and if Tobys classmates could talk I'm sure someone would have said this to him several times over the years, as I have not been a very proficient hairdresser.

At the weekend hair cutting time had arrived again, as it had got really long and Toby had to keep brushing it out of his eyes. I started off with my usual grab-and-snip technique, concentrating purely on not cutting him rather than the aesthetics of the cut. But because it was so long I was doing a worse job than usual so I decided to try the electric clippers H uses on his hair, just to neaten the back and sides. Toby really wasn't keen on letting me anywhere near him with this buzzing thing in my hand and it took both H and I to keep him calm and gently convince him to let me have a go – it did help him to see Daddy get a little bit of a trim too. The trouble with clippers though is knowing where to stop and with the sides and back really short the long top looked even worse, so the only way forward was to do the whole lot. There were a few moments when I thought we'd not manage to get his whole head done but eventually we were there and Toby went in the bath to rinse off all of those pesky little ends that always stick everywhere.

 

Thehaircut

 

Anyway, the reason I am telling this story is not to recount my own part in it but to tell you about Tobys reaction to first seeing his new hair in the mirror. I so wish that I had filmed it and preserved the moment because he was so delighted and it was a wonderful, tear-jerking moment. He never takes an interest in his own reflection but when he saw himself in the mirror after his haircut he laughed and clapped and jumped up and down with delight. He's been positively preening ever since and he's enjoyed everyone telling him how handsome he looks. He even got to stand up in assembly and show the whole school his smart new hair. It's been so lovely to see him so pleased with his new appearance and watching him looking at himself in the mirror is priceless. I even managed to get one picture of him without his hands all over his face. I do so love my special boy x

 

Tobyhair

 

crafts & knitting · new patterns

monkey business

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)44 Comments

They’ve been a while coming, but at last I’ve finished working on the monkey patterns and they’re now available on Ravelry.

As usual there is a boy and girl version of the pattern.

The boy has shorts and two options for making a houndstooth patterned sweater – one that is worked in stranded technique using two colours on each row (shown in bottom of 3rd picture) and the other which is worked in single colour stripes and uses slipped stitches to create the pattern (shown in top of 3rd picture). I’ve included both because I know that not everyone likes working with 2 colours at once, so the second sweater is easier from this respect.

The girl pattern also has 2 clothing options – one dress that is worked in stranded technique with two colours on some rows and the second that has a textured dot pattern knitted in a single colour. There are also instructions for making a bow decoration and for adding decoration to her shoes.

Hopefully anyone who uses the pattern will have fun making their own little monkey and I’m really looking forward to seeing the first finished monkeys popping up in the Ravelry group.

We’re having a very quiet weekend here without the usual music that comes constantly from Amys room – she’s away for the weekend doing her Duke of Edinburgh Award practice expedition. She left yesterday morning in her walking boots and waterproofs with a rucksack almost the same size as her strapped to her back! She’s walking around 10 miles with a small team from her school and they then have to pitch camp, cook their own food, spend the night, pack everything away again (this will probably be the hardest part for Amy!) and walk the 10 miles back. Typically after weeks of dry weather this weekend has had a lot of rain so I’m expecting a very damp and tired daughter back at 5ish!

Hope you’re having a good weekend where you are, see you soon x

 

chicken stuff · garden stuff · general stuff

snippets from our Easter hols

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)35 Comments

Hello again! I hope you had a lovely Easter. Over our two week school break we kept busy with wood walks and lots of garden days, especially in the middle of last week when we had a few days of distinctly summery weather – hopefully there will be a lot more of that to come!

The Easter egg that I was most eagerly anticipating did not arrive for Easter but appeared a week and a half later on April 15th…

 

First

 

That was when the first chicken egg was laid, with the second two eggs following the next day. The first two eggs are tiny and I'm not sure which of our girls to congratulate and give extra treats to as both eggs were laid in the early morning. The third egg was larger (though still on the small side compared to a shop bought egg) and was definitely laid by Hattie, as she went into the nest box during the day and after she came out there was a lovely warm speckled egg sat in the straw.

 

Eastereggs

 

Easter eggs

 

So our girls are ladies now :)  They have learnt to scratch in the dirt, to come when I rattle the little jar of corn they get each afternoon, to let me pick them up for inspection and a quick cuddle and they are old hands wings now at bed-time ladder climbing. They do make me smile and I've really been enjoying their antics…

 

Three

 

Balance

 

Chickens

 

Sqwark

 

The first egg may not have arrived in time for Easter day but I did get a lovely Easter present, The New Kitchen Garden by Mark Diacono. The fact that I bought it for myself (because around here it's only the children who get visited by the Easter bunny) doesn't diminish my enjoyment of it – it's a great book, beautifully laid out and it has all the information I need to make the most of our little veg patch.

 

Seeds

 

I've already made a start with nasturtiums, courgette seedlings (which are desperate for bigger pots) and my kuri squash seeds are just about breaking through the surface of their compost. In the garden I've planted out kale, broccoli, cabbage and some lettuces too and I've direct sown spring onions, beetroot, mangetout peas and dwarf french beans. Fingers crossed we've got no more frosts to come.

 

Veg garden

 

Around the rest of the garden everything is sprouting and it seems that overnight the plum tree has gone from frothy white with blossom to bright spring green as the first leaves open out.

 

Green plum

 

I love this tiny shoot coming directly out of the gnarly bark – it perfectly illustrates the magic that is all around at Spring-time

 

Grow

 

as do these small shoots of sweet woodruff growing out of the wall.

 

Sprout

 

Well, I'm off to relish my monday-me-time. Having Toby at home for the last 2 weeks has been quite tiring, so it's very nice to have a bit of time to myself again with the children going back to school today. I'll be playing around with the blanket that I started over the Easter break.

Originally I had planned using Solveigs lovely 'flowers in the snow' pattern exactly as written but when I started joining the squares I felt the need for a bit more space between the coloured circles.

 

Blankie1a

 

So I'm adding a round in grey before starting the squaring-off round.

 

Newblankiea

 

I'm using mostly Rooster Almerino yarn which is beautifully soft. All notes and yarn used etc. over on my ravelry project page if you want more details.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back soon, hopefully with some knitting news of a new pattern 🙂

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PS: This is not a sponsored post – I don't do those. I only write about things that I like and I buy with my own money.