Day 288 - Flower Power

This found its way back to me recently. It was in a box mum discovered when she was clearing out her attic. 

I don't like to think how long it's been since I last used the press - there were some papery flowers inside that could probably be classed as vintage...fun finding them again though.

Anyway I brought it with us to France and managed to get the youngest excited about having a go. She's always keen to try new things, but this enthusiasm can also fade pretty quickly...

We're staying out in the countryside and there were plenty of colourful wildflowers to pick.

We collected quite a few.

And some interesting leaves and grass.

They should stay in the press for about 8-10 days, but impatience plus a little project I had in mind meant they came out early. 

There was some major glue supervision needed with the sticking - the flowers were extremely delicate and fiddly. I was VERY glad we'd pressed so many, as quite a few didn't make it and ended up stuck to the table (newspaper next time...)

Still, it was fun arranging them, and we were both happy with the end result, though it was a bit fragile. With hindsight it would have been better to cover the flowers in sticky back plastic, just to protect them. But we were in a rush to catch the post.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I'm linking up with Artsy Play Wednesday at Capri + 3

and Country Kids from Coombe Mill.

Day 284 - Time Out

It's good to be a spectator for a bit,

to slip off to the sidelines

and watch the kids enjoy

time with their dad.

And I like this watching;

not being on watch.

Now I can stop 

anytime

Switch off,

off duty.

I'm going to make
the most of it;

of being the support act.

And when they forget,

my 3 favourite little words

at the moment?

'Ask your dad.'

The Photo Gallery: Emotion

I love this photo. In many ways it's fairly ordinary. But it gets me every time.

I took it when my husband was last with us in May. Just before he went back to Afghanistan.

It triggers such a mixture of emotions:

a perfect family day by the sea;

how much I miss him;

how much the kids miss him;

how much easier it is to share.

And it reminds me how much I wish he'd been here last week when the youngest had her scary bike tumble; and how a wave of crushing panic made me realise I'm closer to unravelling than I'd like to think.

I know all these feelings are probably heightened at the moment, because in a few days he'll be back with us for a bit. So, as always happens about now, my defences slip, I'm more emotional and time seems to be slowing down...

Just a few more days and I can stop feeling like I'm holding my breath.

The Gallery theme this week is Emotion.

Day 272 - Mossie Menace

Busy, buzzy, pesky mossie

Zzzz-zing round my bed.

Busy, buzzy, non-stop mossie

dive-bombing my head.

Busy, buzzy, wretched mossie;

don't like it at all.

Busy, buzzy, no more mossie

flattened on the wall.

The Photo Gallery: Sport

My 10 year old is never going to let me forget we were away for the Olympics. He is mad about sport, ANY sport - and I know he'd have been glued to the wall-to-wall coverage at home. Instead he's had to make do with a few snatched highlights on iPlayer. I do have occasional pangs of guilt; and then remind myself it wouldn't have been TV heaven for the other two.

Football is his first love. And from what I can gather, the more time spent diving, sliding or basically throwing yourself to the ground during a game, the better.

This is apparently called an overhead bicycle kick.

It just looks painful to me, but I'm reliably informed it's how Wayne Rooney scored the winning goal in the 2011 Manchester derby. 

This is the other thing: my eldest has an encyclopedic knowledge of football and soaks up any sports facts or news like a sponge. It's given me a glimpse of what he's capable of learning...when he puts his mind to it.

The Gallery theme this week is Sport.

Silent Sunday - 5/8/12