The Wheels on the Bus go Where?

The first of our adventures for this summer was to the Firepit Campsite in Norfolk...Sam and Hattie are now obsessed with playing buses, making up stories about where they are going to go, and holding the obligatory fire drills...

Find out more about our adventures by checking out my new 'Happy Holiday' page!!

"You can't throw that away Mum!!"

After several days of threatening, I gutted my son's room. I think the threatening out loud was more for my benefit that his -there was no way he could sort that pit out, and I needed to brace myself...

As any mum knows, this kind of bedroom purge has to be done when said occupant is at school -or more makes it back in from the recycling bin that exits.

Once the Lego pieces had been repatriated, dragons parked on the wooden castle and money box raided for parking change (before you shout, I'm honest and put the money in his bank account!) I tackled the 'special shelf'.

This is a very wonky, hastily put up shelf that he can park little collections that he doesn't want his sister to mess with (as yet, she can't reach). Precious things go up there, collected shiny objects, badges, snippets of this, that and the other that at that moment in time were all important and priceless.

Once the dust had been chiselled off, and I'd put the tiniest bits into an old letter press tray, I stood back and looked at it. I can remember when some of those things were won, found or discovered. Other pieces that I thought were rubbish and might have thrown away have been placed on the shelf, away from pesky sisters and over enthusiastic, duster-weilding mums.

You might think you can work out what your kid might like to collect, to play with, and to get interested in. But the truth is they will kind of work out it out for themselves. I love Sam's little shelf of curiosities, and it teaches me a heap about what who he really is x

The End of Summer...

Sounds a bit E. M. Forster that, but is clearly not that literary. My boy has (finally) started school and the weather has turned. All of this is good.

I was looking over some photos that I'd taken on Instagram over the past couple of months, where I thought not a lot had happened that super exciting, or bright, or creative. But it had. We've moved house and there are small corners of the house that are emerging from boxes and beginning to have a 'look' of us about them...and not just dust bunnies and lost socks.

We took the kids to a field in Hampshire for BBC Children in Need's Carfest, missed the crazy weather and had a brilliant weekend, despite losing Hattie at 3am under a sleeping bag. Hardly ethical parenting but they were happy for three days and so were we.

There's been food, harvest and jam making, Pimms, ice cream and fairground rides. We built dens in removals boxes, went back to bed at inappropriate times of the day and watched at least ten cumulative hours of Scoobydoo.

Very little was planned, very little cost the earth and it makes me smile to think back over it all. Must have been good. x

2 Months, 2 Kids, One House Move, Limited Budget...

Today is Sam's last day at nursery school. In fairness we thought we'd be moved by now...turns out not so much! So while I sort out the enourmous to do list on my fridge, I have two kids at home (a home that's being packed up) for the summer. Perhaps longer if he doesn't get a school place. Hardly bears thinking about.

So, I'll be dropping up posts this summer about free (or as free-ish as I can get it) stuff to do for kids and mums (and dads) as my budget is as snug as the next persons...

All suggestions are welcome -we're willing to try stuff out too, and hopefully together we might find something to occupy us all! xx

Lashings of Ginger Beer and the Odd Scotch Egg...

We were lucky enough to be invited to a super friends' family picnic in Milton Abbas, Dorset...Beautiful, sunny, the pics speak for themselves!

What did you do this fine family Bank Holiday weekend?xx

Ranty-Friday: Does Facebook Make Me a Bad Housewife?

Aside from the fact that I think smart phone manufacturers are in league with Vision Express in making screens smaller so that anyone over the age of 30 will need a stronger prescription after a year of use, I'm increasingly concerned by my own use of Facebook let alone anyone elses. I'm not talking about the usual stories of neglect -how much time we spend uploading our daily life whilst it merrily carries on around us. After all, Enid Blyton abandoned her kids in their cots for hours at a time with only a teddy and jam sarnies for company to write about other kids she probably liked more. That's neglect, not 2 mins on your phone.

In the age of instant gratification, we also seem to require instant congratulation. My Nan (super-woman that she is) had twins in 1958 without the aid of the NCT, or an epidural. This alone should qualify her for free monthly deliveries of gas an air from the NHS just as a bonus for enduring ridiculous torture. She sent my Grandfather off to work with a cooked breakfast, lunch, did the housework, looked after 3 kids and went to work herself...And couldn't shout her highly praiseworthy achievements from the rooftops and into cyberspace. I don't even think she expected a 'well done' in that this was life and she got on with it.

It's not all cooing and crochet...

Well, maybe a little bit...quite a lot...

This week one of Sam's awesome key workers at nursery goes on maternity leave (boo!). She's brilliant and has him pegged to the extent that we're scared of her too...And she is used as a threat throughout the area when kids misbehave at meal times "we'll tell Kelly!" I'm thinking about seriously pretending to Sam that I have her phone number and I'll dob him in even though she isn't there.

So a lovely lady deserves a nice gift -more baby blanket making this week. It's a pretty simple on for crochet-nuts: soft ripples in double crochet (in sets of 6, where you alternate two 6th stitches crochetted together and the other 6th stitch worked twice to create the up and down). I made it wide enough to swaddle, but mostly for car seats/buggy cosy. The middle section is plain rows of triple crochet, and then two chunky triple rows around the outside. Done. Hope she likes it! x

Teach a toddler to sew...

There's probably an Early Years list of all the things a four year old should be able to do...In fact there is and I haven't read it. But if I was in charge of writing such things, I think this would be on it...It's a pre-cursor to tying your shoelaces and really works on the fine motor skills. Plus it requires concentration which is never a bad thing! This is a cheaper version of the precut threading cards you can buy...My next experiment is to cut out random photo's from magazines, back them onto card and get Sam to thread away...A Boris Johnson one would make me giggle!

You will need:
A hole punch
Sturdy card
A blunt darning needle
Yarn scraps


How to:
This is pretty self-explanatory but hey ho... I got Sam to trace around my hand with a pencil onto the card, then we cut it out. Sam then set to with the hole punch and made lots of holes.
Then, tie one end of a length of yarn through a hole, thread the needle and away they go!

Tip: Tie a small knot to secure the needle (prevents slippage) and never cut more yarn than the distance from your child's hand to their shoulder...seems to cut down on the tangles!

Quick fix: Pirate wrapping...

There is simply too much potential here for dodgy puns about pirates actually rapping...This was a panic over a present for a 4year old's pirate party -no wrapping paper but some brown parcel paper, kids markers and kitchen string. You get the idea...x

How to Make...Crochet Girl's Purse

This purse accompanied the shopping lists and used up lots of odds and ends of wool that I had knocking about. Took about an hour and was a quick, satisfying make, working in circles. Other colourways would work really well too -pick whatever you have knocking around your yarn stash.

You will need:
A variety of scraps and one base colour (here I used the cream), in DK or cotton;
A 3.00mm hook;
Darning needle;
Scissors




Read on for instructions!

Supermarket sweep...

A techy-crafty make this week, in time for a toddler's birthday!

I decided to make shopping list cards for Sam's little mate because she has the IKEA kitchen and a stack of plushie food to go with it. I figured these could also be used when in a real supermarket to keep the little dudes quiet for 10 seconds longer than the 10 seconds they usually last before making embarrassing comments about other shoppers..."Why is that man fat mummy?"..."That lady has wrinkles, she must be super old"...That sort of thing.

First I photographed the food individually on a bright window sill with my SLR -camera phone just didn't cut it and I needed a sharp image. Then I used the trusted www.fotoflexer.com to make up a collage with 9 images and transparent borders. The text was added using the 'everyday casual' font (their fonts are ace, worth checking it out for this alone!).

Printing was done in Boots with their plug in machine-thingy. Then I finished off by glueing some card on to stiffen, and Fablon-ed the front Blue Peter style (I would have got them laminated but the lady in the shop only had a wicked hot one that would melt photo's). The idea is that they can cross off veggies with a dry-wipe marker and be cleaned off with a babywipe.

I also indulged my teachery side (been dormant since July) and rustled up some work sheets with ticky boxes and suggested activities to make the most of the images. You can find your own copies here. I honestly had tons of fun playing around with this idea, and might even start making my own pictoral shopping lists just to sparkle up Monday's! x

Blind leading the blind!

So Hannah and I set about another project (as if wrestling FOUR kids under 5 on a freezing day wasn't enough)...To whip up blinds for her playroom. Her mum (ace lady of fine ideas) thought this one through -how to make blinds without cords that can cause horrid accidents when kids get involved. We've all seen the stories.

These are basically 'pop-up' blinds using buttons and tabs, with a self-extending pole at the top. This means that they are pretty safe from prying fingers, and can be whipped down and bunged in the washing machine when spills happen/random child explosions. We've all cleaned that mess up.

It took the day, a good deal of head scratching, but we got a good result.

To that end, I've written out the instructions in (hopefully) a user friendly format, as a bit of a tester to start putting these ideas on etsy. If you'd like to sample them, and provide some feedback, I'd be mightily grateful. Just e-mail me at jencrumpuk@yahoo.com and I'll send you over a copy.

Thanks for dropping by!x

Battling Britain (with pegs and pipe cleaners)...

Aimee (awesome farmers wifey) taught me how to make these this afternoon...She needed a peg related craft for WI and had found this on a trip to Duxford (aka plane mecca)...Read on for spiffing spitfire destructions (I'm going to try this with Sam on Wednesday) x

January Days...

They're not so bad...It's getting colder (finally) with the chance of snow that makes this whole winter thing a bit more worthwhile.

Some of this week sucked -grumpy baby, manic cleaning (trying to sell the house with two small children in it is a challenge) and trying to get some work done too. But then Thursday hit and suddenly there I realised the good stuff. A walk in the woods when the sun actually shined, a coffee and fab piece of cherry and almond cake with the little lady, and making Sam eat green beans by arranging his lunch into a pair of snails sat on 'grass'.

So yep, it's a grey January, we're all a tad broke, stuck for the best part indoors and my floor will always be covered in crumbs. But that's not all that matters. x

Kids have the best stuff!

I think kids have some great things, and if you look a little closer the colours and patterns are way better that what we adults have to make do with... pin-stripe suit? Pah, I'll have a funky tree pattern any day. x

Booties complete!

The kit from www.craftynana.com was lovely -excellent for a beginner, all you needed to add yourself is a yarn needle and a pair of scissors. The instruction book is step-by-step with photo's of all the needle moves. This can be a tad frustrating if you're used to reading usual knitting patterns, but actually to encourage folk into taking up the sport, I'd recommend it.

The booties do come up quite big, but the kit has enough for two pairs, so for my second I'm going to switch to 2mm needles rather than the 4mm supplied. So all in all, a good buy for someone who wants to have a go, with lovely organic soft cotton to boot...(poor pun, sorry x)

Craft kits -the good, the glad and the tricky...

I was lucky enough to recieve some crafty makes kits over the holidays, and have happily set about making them up. I thought I'd let you know which ones work, which ones are a tad tricky and which ones made me grin the most, then you could go out and have a go yourself.

So far I've started on the baby booties from www.craftynana.com (mainly because I can do this whilst actually holding the baby while she snoozes)...

From deepest, darkest Peru...

A little while ago I found a pair of kids curtains in a charity shop -pretty old but a lovely Paddington Bear print...a quick wash and they come up lovely, and so far have become several crafty makes.

Two cushion covers brightened up the spare room, and a seat cover for Sam's chair at the dinner table hoped to solve the fidgetty-bum-ness of a toddler. That failed but the cushion looks ace in my kitchen.

This week I've been making plushies for Christmas presents -really sweet little character cut-outs, backed with an old farmer shirt that husband had worn out and some toy stuffing...

I'm thinking a shopping bag for the new year...what would you make?x

Crochet Cookies -a fat-free treat!

A perfect plan for the New Year -shift the Christmas podge by occupying your hands...and at least you won't eat these (unless you have freaky need to eat wool...)

For instructions and close-ups of Oreo's, Jammie Dodgers and Nice biscuits, read on...

Eating, fixing, watching...

Getting back to thinking about scribbling and crafting again, not too bad a week on from meeting my little lady... So this week has all been about:

Eating: the stuff I wasn't meant to for 9 months, including baked Camembert (lush on toast), pink champagne and runny egg sarnies...admittedly not all together, that would just be weird.

Fixing: a mobile made of crochet hearts to go above my moses basket. Yep, she's pink, and for the first time ever I'm embracing the hidden girliness that I've spent 31 years ignoring.

Watching: Hattie TV -great channel, in HD, occasionally in smelly-vision, but generally awesome and lovely. Shucks, I've turned to mashed potato.