happenings at home

We're settling into our new home nicely, still moving around posessions, pondering colour schemes and decor ideas and aquiring bits of furniture here and there. Mostly from a series of wonderful antiques markets we discovered in our nearest big town, a few local op (charity/thrift) shops and also on Gumtree- where we were lucky enough to score a free lovely timber, provinvial style bed for the spare room. I just need to mention here that you have no idea how unreal/amazing it feels to me to actually say the words "our" and "spare bedroom" in the same sentence. Decorating on a budget is always a challenge but I'm loving it, actually just loving being able to knock nails in walls without panicking about having to fill them all one day when we move out.

Having an actual garden, well a large-ish patch of grass to be precise, is still a huge novelty and my mind is ticking over with ambitious plans involving rose and lavender bushes, trailing vines and trellices. I had to acquaint myself with the gardening section of the library as soon I stopped daydreaming for long enough to realise I don't actually know anything about garden design, or even in fact gardening. However, the veggie patch is already underway which the children are beyond thrilled about and no doubt my mother, the master gardener, will be happy to help when she and my Dad fly over for an eagerly anticipated visit at the end of December. The only thing bothering me is a memory of my teenage self declaring to my parents that I would never, ever, seriously never be interested in gardening as it was the most boring thing on Earth. This can only mean I am now officially old.

Here are a few pictures of home and things happening in it of late...

1 //  A display of straw hats hanging on our bedroom wall. We've (ha! what I really mean is 'I') decided to go with a travel / beachy / Morrocan style vibe for the room.

2 //  New findings from beach combing adventures to add to our collection of random curios.

3 //  My new book, dipping into it whenever I get a spare minute to myself.

4 //  New necklace creations ready for sale at my stall at the craft market next month. Eeek. Starting to get a bit nervous about having enough stock and whether anyone will actually buy any of them. The entire dining table is now taken over with bead production.

5 //  Preparations for the home made advent calendar I am creating for the girls. Each day in December they will discover a festive item or details of something we will do that day. Somedays it will be a little sweet treat (a candy cane or chocolate coin), sometimes a treasure (a little decoration for the tree or book), alternatively a festive activity (watching The Snowman, listening to Christmas songs, baking and decorating Christmas cookies), or a big event (choosing the Christmas tree or going to a carol concert).

I'm still figuring out the logistics of how all this will actually be packaged up and made to look pretty but it's fun and I'm feeling fairly excited and in the festive spirit already. Well, as festive as it is possible to get in a country where it is likely to be averaging 27 degrees celcius on Christmas day.

fairy doors [a magical childhood]

When I first found out I was going to be a mother, I was so unsure about a thousand different things. Of course the big questions along the lines of...will I actually make a good parent? Can I effectively raise a little human being? The more selfish...will my life change for ever and will I have to stop doing everything I love? (Yes, but in a good way and no, you just learn to be more flexible). And of course the more mundane but crucial...how the heck will I know how to change a nappy or know what to to when the baby cries? Despite all this, one thing I was sure about right from the very beginning was that I wanted my to try my very best to give my children a magical childhood.

For them to spent hours at the bottom of the garden with magnifying glasses looking for faires. When they lose a sock to smile a secret smile in the knowledge that a Borrower is using it for a far more important purpose. To make tiny nests and leave out offerings of nuts and seeds for the wood sprites during the cold winter months. I freely admit that I believed in Father Christmas far past the age that most children had found out or been told the horrible truth and stubbornly refused to listen to anyone that tried to persuade me otherwise. The sooty footprints by the fireplace, the carrots the reindeer had chewed, the mince pie crumbs and drained glass of sherry and the cards he sometimes left us were soild, unshakeable proof to me.With our treasured twenty pence piece in exchange for a tooth, my sister and I would recieve tiny letters from the tooth fairy written on scaps of paper the size of postage stamps.

When I saw the tutorial for making these fairy doors I knew it was something that would have to be done here. I immediately set to looking on ebay for dolls house doors and tiny accessories. Rose is still a little young to understand but old enough to be intruiged and Lila, whose mind is already filled with elves, fairies and magical wonderlands will be absolutely thrilled to see the evidence that we are indeed not alone.

For full instructions, click over to Kate's Creative Space. A blog I have newly discovered by a lady that is equally committed to creating a magical childhood and a beautiful crafty life. If you pop on over I guarantee you will spend an hour of two caught up in all her wonderful projects and inspiring home. Her wonderful advent calendar is also on my to do list for this coming week (athough there are two shop bought back ups stashed away in the pantry as the days until the first of December are already flying past at a pretty frightening pace).

Images from Kates Creative Space.