Busy, busy, busy...

There really is never a dull moment here! There is always something happening or changing and just when you think you cannot simply fit anything more in, it all goes and gets just a little more chaotic!!
Or is it just us? If nothing is happening, it means we are all asleep!
With two boys in school it feels like the day is so short and although people always think that with the kids at school you will have more time, it just isn't true!!!
So what has been going on here??
Two small boys in school. It seems to be getting easier on that front, although a fabulous expression I read on one of our local Home Ed groups springs to mind. Boiling the frogs. I won't explain it here....google it!!!
One eldest boy in college this week. It will be his first day in an English educational establishment since April 2007!!!
And one 14 year old who seems to finally be emerging from his Neanderthal man phase and is almost back in the land of humanity! He has started making nets for ferreting to sell on Ebay and has already sold 4 sets!!! The dreaded paper round may soon be a thing of the past, thank goodness. Its a real bone of contention for both of us.
We have also bought a wood lathe....it has only been here a week and he can make beautifully turned pieces of wood that resemble chair legs and such like already! He made a matching pair of door knobs for the rabbit hutch (lol) and a lovely little goblet.
(Photo to follow here when i find my cable for my phone)
We have money making plans for this skill too, and have just started him off with a blog...see my side bar for The Nifty Knotter!
Rob has got his first proper commission for the framing business this week and so we are busy planning that, as it is not a standard picture framing job!
I have been busy crafting in between my shifts at work and hope to have a stall at a Christmas gift fair or two. Eeeek! It is all very scary! but also exciting!
Rob and David are also planning gift boxed wands, with a few pre made frames for those family photos for Christmas. Commissions for portrait drawings are also welcomed!
But do we think versatility is a good thing? Or should we be specialising?!!! We shall see.

Autumn is upon us.

As i walked the dogs this morning around the local reservoir, I couldn't help but notice a large flock of Canada geese. They were all honking and jostling on what little water there is left after the summer. The resident swans were none to pleased with their prescence, and one swan in particular kept running across the water, like they do before they take off in to the air, and flapping its wings at them whilst hissing and honking itself. Rather brave I felt as there must have been well over a hundred geese in that corner.
I usually see the heron on my morning walk but not today. Too much noise I guess, from these other large birds.
And so, here I am at home thinking about putting together an Autumn season table and thinking about how different life is now.
The two youngest boys are in school still.....which I can only liken to a rollar coaster ride, and Tom has officially started his apprenticeship in a 4x4 garage in the nearest town. He will attend his first day of college in the next couple of weeks.
So it has just been me and Jonathan at home for the last few month,(summer holidays being the exception) and it has been mighty strange. Not a situation that I have found easy to get used to, or indeed accept readily.
All is about to change again here though, with Rob leaving full time work and us both attempting part time jobs again, with a view to setting up our own business in the near future. More on all that another time.
I intend to begin posting again regularly, because we do still do stuff worth sharing in blogland; its just that I haven't felt like it for a while!
Looking forward to catching up with some craftiness now that the season is changing too!

Wonderwool...

was totally wonderful!!!
But oddly enough this lady's creations were what I will remember most.
Please take a moment to look at them using the above link. Her stand totally overwhelmed me xx

I seem to be paddling up the rapids at the moment...

... but at least I still have my paddle.

Sewing Saturday

Today I had one poorly wee man with chicken pox to look after and entertain and one highly stressed boy to talk to and spend time with.
So after discussing the stresses and pressure he was feeling we started a list of things that he wanted to make.
We started off with a plan to make a knife modelled from air drying clay, while Will played with the plasticine. This has been put to one side to dry before possibly painting.
One of the other things was a medicine pouch and knife case, Torak style.
Now I just happened to have bought some off cuts of suede from the international history fair I went to last autumn. I had such a 'make' in mind I guess.
This is the suede with the holes punched all round the edges.





This is David doing the over sewing with string and a large bodkin.



This is the sewing of the knife case.



And the finishes articles...


including one I made for Will.

Sew that was both the boys looked after and entertained ;-)

Some felty creativeness.

Mother Nature and a root baby....I need to make at least one more as Will keeps reminding me, but as this one looks like it would be more at home on the set of The Sound of Music than our season corner, I have started to make something else!

These fishes are for Will to use when he is being Ray Mears. They are almost done. Stitched and stuffed, just awaiting some details on the fins and tail, I think.
And this little fellow....


I really like him. He started off as possible Torak figure but has more of a look of Windy Miller about him, don't you think?!! I'm not sure whether to give him a face and hair. I quite like the simplicity of him.


I'm going to do a cloaked figure next, I think.

This is Will playing with the Plasticine the other day after we attempted to make a roundhouse and tried using the plasticine to hold the sticks in place. lol. Will has spent quite a lot of time playing with this over half term.

This is the day we crossed over the enemy lines and went to a Home Ed group visit. It was freezing. It was misty. Will and I were both still quite very pooorly but we were all desperate to go. It is an Iron Age roundhouse built on an old original site not too far (!!!!!) from where we live in Northamptonshire.


The children got a chance to do some daubing on the walls. It was so cold!! The clay was hard to manipulate and the muddy ground made it difficult to walk around.

But David did a small but perfectly smooth patch so that he could return and say that he helped.

They also had a go at stamping an Iron Age coin using the method of the era and there was a lovely lady who told the story of the Hallaton Treasure. Will and David were captivated. Story telling is so fantastic. It is such a shame that it is a rarity.
David had a great time playing in the huge playground there with the other HE'ers. It was difficult to drag him away.
And so they are back to school this week and I am struggling to get any kind of rhythm to my days. They are more of a topsy turvy mix than usual. It is all so wierd.
Still, there's always sock knitting for comfort and familiarity!

Humbled beyond words.

I have many other things to blog about but this makes evrything else just pale into insignificance.
This beautiful little man arrived Earthside yesterday morning into my hands.
Well done Han, you were brilliant!!! And thank you so much for allowing me the privelege xx