Day 355 - Kabul calling

Sometimes when I'm babbling away on the phone to my husband about the kids, bills, or the retired vicar popping by when I was in my pyjamas; it's very easy to forget he's far away, doing what he's doing. I've seen the odd photo, but I can't really picture where he is, or imagine what his days are like. The gulf between his world and mine is so vast. The more I think about it, the bigger the gulf gets. I know my husband works seven days a week, that his job takes up every waking minute, and I'm often amazed by how he seems to able to switch out of all of that on the phone to me.  I couldn't do it.

Over the year he's managed to phone home every two or three days, which is pretty good. Much better than the last 6 month tour 3 years ago, when calls were erratic. I remember not hearing from him for 10 days during the toughest, darkest part of that tour. Afghanistan dominated the news then, fighting was intense and there was so much sadness. It was the longest 10 days of my life.

It's been very different this time - he's not on the frontline and I haven't worried as much between calls. But I never ask when he's going out. I'd rather not know.

Our phone chats haven't always gone smoothly though - he has a  knack of ringing at a really bad moment - when I'm trying to get the kids to do their homework, eat, or I'm just about to head out the door. There's never a perfect time is there.

I always feel guilty after one of these distracted calls, and I can't ring him back - I have to wait for him to ring me, or email him to call home. We rarely talk at night because Afghanistan is a few hours ahead. If he wants to catch up with the kids, it tends to be breakfast time, which is bedlam, or early teatime/bathtime (even worse!) Weekends are usually best.

I know the kids have missed their dad desperately and are so excited about him coming home - but they can be totally useless on the phone, especially if there's something else going on. He's pretty realistic about this, but it must be hard.

That's why once in a while I've asked the kids to write or make things to send to him. The eldest usually writes a letter, the youngest draws a picture and the one in the middle does a bit of both.

I often get a lump in my throat when the kids show me what they've done. So heartfelt, loving and honest. And I know getting messages like this have meant the world to their dad over the last 12 months.

Day 352 - Mobile memories

We're very nearly there. My husband's home this month! THIS MONTH! Can't tell you how great it feels to write that. I'd almost do a jig if I wasn't so blinking tired...just a few more weeks...

The last bit is tough though - time starts crawling by - still, I've allowed the final countdown to begin in my head, and I'm on a kind of manic mission to get the house sorted and things finished before he's back. This usually happens, and as I've already said it's completely bonkers, because he's not going to be remotely bothered about how the house looks. He just wants to be home. But I think it helps me somehow.

Not everything has gone to plan. I won't be meeting him at the door, wrapped in a crocheted blanket of many colours, as I'd optimistically thought way back when, before granny squares got the better of me.  According to my little counter I've almost enough for a blanket, but sewing them together could take another year...

During a kitchen drawer clear out (because he's really going to be looking through the drawers..) I found a box of fish. They're made from copper wire someone gave me a while ago. I bent it with pliers into a simple shape, then threaded beads and shells onto very thin wire, and wrapped this around each one.

I've always had a thing about fish. Not exactly sure why, but there's something comforting about them.  I have shoals of all shapes and sizes, on curtains, cushions, pictures, tiles - you could easily play spot the fish in any room here.
Over the years I've worked them into many things I've made too, and that's really what I'm getting at in a roundabout way. The last time my husband was on tour in Afghanistan I made a large mosaic fish mirror, and it is important to me - packed with memories and emotion. Making something out of the wire fish is similar really. A reminder of the year - the ups and downs, but I hope mostly the positive things that have come out of these 12 months on my own.

I knew I had a bag of lovely bleached, smooth pieces of driftwood gathered on a beach trip, so a mobile seemed like a good option.

Getting the balance right was tricky, but attaching it to a hanger on a curtain pole meant I could fiddle about with the dangling fish, and get them hanging properly.
Now they're swimming around in the bathroom, and mobiles have been added to my list of things that are seriously hard to photograph..

Will he notice? Maybe not. 

But it'll always mean something to me.

Silent Sunday - 4/11/12

Leaf Art and a handy gift idea

The leaves are falling fast, but there's still a rainbow of autumn colours out there - so, plenty to collect. As well as reds, russets and yellows, the kids gathered up lots of different shapes and sizes for this little project - just make sure the leaves heading home aren't too curly or mouldy!

I did some flower pressing with the children in the summer - the youngest loved it and we made a card for Grandad. This time I thought we'd have a go at bookmarks, inspired by some fantastic leaf art in The Big Ideas Book. One top tip is to press the leaves (once they're dry) in an old phone book - very quick and easy, but be careful when you're moving it about because it's floppy, and you don't want them all dropping out...speaking from experience...

Weigh it down with something heavy, and leave for about a week.

When you're ready, hold the phone book over some newspaper, flick through, letting the leaves fall. Now the fun starts! I cut out bookmarks from some white card - ours were 5cm by 15cm, but you could draw around one you have, or make them any shape you like.
The kids are always impatient to start sticking, but best to get them to lay out the leaf pattern they want on the card first.

Lots of different shapes, colours and sizes means you can really get creative. Flowers and fish are easy to do - we cut a V into a leaf for the fish tail and a frilly, delicate one made a good underwater plant. And don't you think ferns would work well for christmas trees?

To finish off, the kids wrote a message on the other side, before the bookmarks were covered in clear sticky back plastic.

Make sure you cut enough from the sheet to go over both sides + a bit more. Pull half the back off the plastic, and put the leaf picture down on the sticky side, then fold the covering tight against the edge of the card and slowly, carefully remove the rest of the backing paper, smoothing down as you go. I did this for the kids, and kept an eye on them as they cut off the extra bits and neatened them up.

The bookmarks didn't take long to make and they're going to make great Christmas presents.

We've kept ours quite simple but if you want to jazz them up, you can draw a border round the edge of the bookmark or add a tassel or ribbon at the bottom.
I layered leaves for this butterfly picture, and stalks make perfect antenna. So many possibilities!

Next time paper houses.

Linking up with Country Kids at Coombe Mill and For the Kids Friday - LOADS of fun ideas to keep your little ones busy..

Yes or No? A box with answers

I did say I'd do something for the boys from The Big Ideas Book, but it's not just for them - making these little boxes is fun for anyone really.

The reason for the 'boy' tag is they're very, very quick. I don't know about you but that's certainly music to my ears when I'm doing anything crafty with mine. My boys are often keen, always impatient, and have the attention span of a gnat. So the faster they can see results the better! Yes-No boxes are perfect because they're pretty much instant. This is all you'll need - empty matchboxes and a pen or pencil.

Slide out a tray and draw a two-way face on both sides (there are two trays here to show this). Slide it back.

The kids decorated their boxes too, drawing on sticky address labels, but skip the colouring-in bit if you want.  Then the idea is to whisper a secret question needing a 'yes' or 'no' answer into your box..

..shut it, toss the box in the air and pick it up as it's fallen. Open slowly halfway, and the face gives you the answer.

There were squeals of delight and howls of despair - so much fun watching them.

I heard whispers of goals, Arsenal, Disneyland and daddy, the Red Arrows? and something about an iPad (I don't think so..)

and someone obviously thinks they're getting sparkly shoes for christmas..

Linking up with For the Kids Friday

Going Batty

I thought we'd give our Owl and the Pussycat tube creations a spooky, Halloween twist. Very easy as it turns out, because they're a perfect shape for bats with those pointy little ears. So, time to gather up more toilet rolls...never imagined I'd be this happy to run out of loo paper...

They're made in exactly the same way as the owls and cats - gluing the top of the tube shut by brushing a good layer of craft glue inside the tube end, and using paper clips to hold it in place while the glue dries.

But this time paint them black, and when dry, cut a curve into the glued end and trim a few cms (1in) off the bottom (squeeze the sides together near the bottom and cut across the tube).

Draw and cut out eyes and fangs - I went for evil, grinning, vampire bats, but up to you how scary you want them to be!

I made half a bat wing using card, then folded some coloured paper, put the template on the crease and drew around it, before cutting and opening out the wings. Glue everything in place.

Next - time to get these bats up, and flying about.

Now due to the run on toilet rolls, we were just short for a bat-only mobile - so we made some ghosts to join them. They are very quick and easy. Cut a cup out of an egg box, brush glue all over the outside of the cup and stick the flat base in the middle of some white tissue paper (fold it double so it's not too thin). Hold it down with a loose elastic band while the glue's drying. Draw a haunted, ghostly face on one side. Cut the bottom in rough zig-zags, to make it look like a raggedy old sheet.

The mobile is just two wire coat hangers bound together at the top and bottom with some thin, pliable wire (or you could use string). I removed the top part of one hanger with wire cutters. Then cover it all with stretchy, creepy cobwebs and spiders - great stuff and easy to pick up in the supermarket around Halloween. I used some transparent thread to hang them up, but ordinary is fine too. Thread a needle and make a hole through the top of the ghosts, attach the thread underneath with sticky tape. Make a hole between the bat's ears with a threaded needle and tie a knot.