Green Day

It's all too easy to overlook the little things, both literally and metaphorically.

We charge around all day, going about our business, forgetting sometimes that beneath our feet there is an entire world of tiny living things, quietly going about their own business, quite regardless of your pressures and worries.

Sometimes its good to get right down on the ground to see what's going on down there.

Today I'm linking up with Fiona at Raindrops and Daisies for her Green Day.

Take a look at some of the other lovely blogs who are also joining in :-)

Ice cream in Looe

View from the playground

Another brief respite from the endless rain, spent noshing on chocolate icecream in Looe... 

the trick in holiday season is to go very early in the morning: this lovely deserted playground was heaving two hours later - the girls would have been rooted to the spot just watching the mayhem, rather than running round like nutters trying to play on everything at once!

:-)

Making up for lost time

Phew! Been a while since I last posted so, in an effort to catch up a little here is a little summary of some of what's been going on!!

We went to the museum in Stroud, Gloucestershire:

Old Boris was serious about it being called 'Whiff-Waff' after all

Hmmm, I never realised I was named after a Friesian

Baby shoes!

"A nest of young blackbirds reared on a kitchen mantel shelf  in a dwelling house in Dudbridge near Stroud"

the actual nest!

...which is set in the beautiful grounds of Stratford Park:

That tree on the right looks like a pair of dancers to me

and has quite haunting casts of faces dotted around in unexpected places:

I spotted these ones through the cafe window, slick with rain, stoically enduring the weather

I mended a chair with a wonderfully curvy needle:

We went to the beach:

where Jess jumped off lots of rocks:

Milly's had fun playing with all the rain we've been collecting:

Some of the stones seem reluctant to make the dive "No, no I don't want to.... boink"

On the subject of baby birds, our second nest of baby swallows suffered a setback today: Dino caught two of the fledgelings this morning :-( I couldn't stop crying. Luckily Mama bird has one baby left... Milly took some persuading that they couldn't be fixed :-(

Hope you're all having a lovely summer x

While you were sleeping

These little creatures have all been sitting in my sewing basket for six months waiting for my attention.

Baby's foot had fallen off, Ellie's ear was hanging by a thread and little Bear had lost an eye.

So, tonight I sat alone downstairs listening to the gentle snores of those above me, and stitched them all back together, thinking of their respective owners (and owners-to-be) as I did so, thinking that this is what motherhood is really about, the quiet work behind the scenes. It seemed symbolic tonight that I had these three things ready to fix and that each belongs to a different child.

It's too easy in the bustle of the day to lose sight of my girls when they're right in front of me all the time, so it seems important every now and then to do something like this, for them, with them in mind; something that they will appreciate me having done without them needing to show their appreciation in any way other than to reclaim their lost toy/mitten. Tomorrow I will appreciate them even more because I've taken this time without them to concentrate on a tiny act of love for them.

Brentor Church, rocks & the sofa coming home

We drove to Tavistock to pick up a sofa on Freecycle, stopping on the way back to visit this amazing 13th century church in Brentor, built on top of this beautiful hill on the outskirts of Dartmoor. I'm not religious, but church buildings have such resonance and this one in particular is one those places that makes your skin tingle with awe.

Imagine coming out of a church service to this view!

Someone from the village climbs the hill every morning to put fresh flowers inside

A beautiful kissing gate

 And finally, a pretty little house I always admire on the way to and from Tavi.

The sofa has inspired a new arrangement in our living room, which suddenly seems a much more welcoming space!

Milly likes the new sofa too!