The slow turning of the days

Is anyone else forgetting what day it is and finding the days seem to be trundling along at a slower pace than usual?  It isn't a bad thing as I'm loving the slow rhythm of our lives right now.

I also know how very blessed and fortunate we are as hubby is still able to work and we're not suffering the stresses that so many others are currently feeling.  We're learning not to take our life for granted.

Ours days are gently meandering along following a very loose routine.  The week hubby is home, Patch and I get to go for our usual morning, hour long walk where he can run off lead, sniff and piddle on nearly every blade of grass and find very smelly, muddy drains and creeks to play in.

The track is so overgrown and in some places the grass is taller than me but we love this spot and are hoping the grass may die down a little with winter on the way.  I hope so because I won't be looking forward to snake season around August if it's still overgrown like this.

School still trundles along at our own pace.  It's a bit hit and miss each day but I'm not letting it bother me as the kids are still learning and we're embracing the extra family time.

Many evenings, weather permitting, when hubby is home, we are enjoying a backyard fire.

I can sit there for hours watching the flames and it's nice to be outside, glass of wine (or cup of tea) in hand enjoying our time together.  

Everyone seems to come and go, doing their own things, then enjoying the fire for awhile before going back to doing their own things again.  I'm loving some of the conversations I've been having with the kids too and learning a few more things about what makes them tick.

Patch is usually my constant companion when I'm out there and refuses to go inside until I do.  He's good company as he doesn't chatter or say much at all :)

There have been times when we've had dinner by the fire and we're even contemplating getting the camp oven out to cook something one night and make it feel a bit like we're camping.  Toasted marshmallows have been torched and devoured for dessert on the odd occasion.

Hubby heads back to work tomorrow for another week so there's usually no fires when he's gone.  I'm pretty hopeless at keeping them going so we usually only enjoy them the weeks he's home.

That means it will be more snuggle time with the kids of an evening.  They like to do their own thing most nights but if they can agree on a movie we'll all watch that together although that's pretty rare.  

What we've found to work better is to have a one on one movie night with Mum about once a week.  

Whoever's turn it is gets to choose the movie and we snuggle up in my bed watching it then the next night it's the other child's turn to choose the movie and have snuggle time.  It's saving arguments and it also gives the kids a chance to have that one on one time with me that's been a bit difficult to find these days.

Patch and I are also slowly working out a routine for our walks when hubby's not home either.  We don't go for our big walk but he does get shorter walks each day.  Once school goes back we can adjust our routine again but for now he's still happy he's getting out and about.

I hope you all are safe and well and enjoying your week.

xx Susan

A little Crochet time

During this time when we're all cooped up in the house, I have been able to get a few crafty things done.

I had been sewing quite a bit but have no photos to show you what I was in the process of making.  All of that ground to a halt once the kids were home with me each day as where I sew is in a section of our living room.  That is mainly the kids domain when they're home and I found the constant interruptions when I was trying to concentrate on sewing a bit of a pain.  In the end I packed the sewing things away until they go back to school.

So it's back to my favourite craft of crochet and using up what's in my stash.

I found a lovely, easy pattern on the Annie Design Crochet website for a scarf.  I loved the asymmetrical design and the fact that you only need to tie in two ends, one at the beginning and one at the end.  That's always a bonus!

In fact, I enjoyed making it so much that I ferreted through my stash to find some more yarn that I thought would look lovely in the pattern.  I'm loving making this one too and I suppose all we need now is some cooler weather so I can wear them although I'm not holding my breath for that to happen any time soon in my neck of the woods.

I don't think I've shown you another version of my Venetian shawl either.  I made this months ago in a silk/alpaca blend and it's really soft and drapes beautifully.  The photos don't do the colour justice but it's a really lovely, silky olive green.

I've also been busy making some face scrubbies so that I can use fresh ones each day then pop them in the washing machine each week.  They're much nicer to use than cotton pads and I love that I can re-use them.

More wash cloths have been flying off the hook too.  I'm trying to use up my cotton scraps which is why I've been making scrubbies and wash cloths.  I love using things I've made myself and they also make great little gifts.

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy.

xx Susan

Staying at home

Staying at home is nothing new for us.  In fact our current circumstances feel a bit like a usual weekend so we're dealing with it all fairly well here.

For the record, we're not in lockdown right now but there are a lot of restrictions in place.  In Australia, we have the advantage of seeing what's happened in the rest of the world and can get a head start on self-isolating and putting into place many of the practices other countries have been using.

I'm also trying to get as many walks in with Patch as I can, while I can.  Where we go is quite isolated (and very overgrown right now) so we've been happily enjoying our walks when we get the chance to have them.  Not only has it been wonderful walking in the fresh air for an hour but it's giving us a bit of a break from a constantly full and relatively small house.  I've been loving how many butterflies and dragonflies have been flying about when we walk.  There's so many of them and just a small thing like that can lift the spirits.

Today is also the first day of the school holidays but the kids have been off school for the last week and a half.  They made the school's here in Queensland student free for the last week of Term 1 for all except Health workers and others who need the support of the school's right now.  Hubby and I made the decision to take our kids out earlier as it didn't make sense to us when the government kept saying to social distance, only be in small groups etc and then said it's still safe to send all our kids to school.

Six months ago I would have freaked out at the thought of having the kids home and home schooling for a time.  After doing just that with Master M for most of the school year so far, I knew I could cope with it.  That's not to say I'm a great home schooling Mum.  In fact I'm completely crap at it as I learned very early on with Master M that I'm no teacher.

We just do the few tasks the kids have been set by their teacher and puddle along with other things.  If they're still home in Term 2 then things will have to change and I'll have to get with the program a bit more but the one thing I won't be doing is putting pressure on myself or the kids.

We have been baking.  They both love to help out with that and really enjoy it when they do cooking at school so we're trying to schedule that into our weeks as that's something I can handle.  We've made muffins and cakes but the main thing that Miss R wants to make and help with are dog biscuits for Patch.

They're really easy to make and since we don't have a dog bone biscuit cutter, he gets a tub full of hearts and stars.  It's a little embarrassing how excited he gets and how much drool lands on the floor when he knows he's getting one of these treats (or two depending on who is sneaking them to him).

They also freeze well so we keep enough out for 3 or 4 days worth and pop the rest in the freezer.  They go really mouldy quickly in our humidity so it's best to get out just a few at a time.

This is the recipe we use.

Dog Biscuits (Cookies)

2 cups Self Raising Flour (or 2 cups Plain/All purpose flour and 2 teaspoons baking powder)

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

Mix together with enough water to form a dough.  You'll need about 1/4 cup of water which I add about half first then about a tablespoon at a time until I get a dough consistency.  Roll out until the dough is about 1cm thick then cut out with whatever shapes you have and place on a baking tray.

Bake in a 180 C (375F) oven for 20 minutes.  Once cool watch them be devoured!

We have also been doing jigsaws.  For some reason we usually only ever seem to do jigsaws at Christmas time but I was de-cluttering the games cupboard the other day and found a few I had forgotten we had.

I always do my jigsaws on artists canvas which you can get from craft stores or many of the bargain stores around the place.  They're light and non-slip so the pieces don't slide off.

Most of the day the jigsaw sits on the dining table because you have to walk past it to get to anywhere in our house really.  So we just put in a piece or two as we're walking past then at meal times it's easy to pick up the canvas and move it to a coffee table or sit it on a bed without worrying about pieces falling off.

We're up to our third puzzle now and have a bit of a pile to get through so we'll happily chug along getting them done one piece at a time.

I've been doing plenty of crochet too but have just realised I have no photos of any of it.  I'll have to fix that over the next few days and give you a bit of a crafty update.

Until then my friends, stay safe and find some little bit of peace in your day if you can.  Patch and I are enjoying quiet moments outside after dinner.  The evenings have been beautiful and I'll head out there with a cup of tea (or wine if it's been that kind of day) and we just watch the amazingly clear night skies of late.  It's been a tonic.

xx Susan