Weekending

I have lost my blogging head recently - a cunning combination of work and a lack of camera. I just feel dissatisfied with the phone camera. Still next month brings my birthday and I have dropped enormous hints.

This weekend was about finding some headspace and enjoying the sunshine. You have to get out in that when you can don't you?

We met friends in Nailsworth and had a beautiful walk ending with coffee and cake at Hobbs House. Also spent time in the garden pottering around and cooing over flowers and seedlings. As you do...

Nature in the Home

I am very late with nature in the home this week but I have a perfect excuse - Mr OFSTED came a calling this week and there has been no time in my life for anything but work. Well work and picking a little apple blossom. The week went well but I am so glad that it is the weekend!

Linking up with the Little Green Shed and the lovely Lou. 

Summer Sounds.

The work of Shirley Hughes is etched on my mind. Each of my children have loved her books, as have I. I love her books still. When we lived in NZ I would go to the world of Alfie and Annie Rose whenever I felt homesick. Their warm glow always made me feel better. Actually when I think about it Shirley Hughes probably taught me more that many child are experts about what childhood should be like. Looking at the picture below I am fairly certain that I referred to her for interior decorating tips too - Erin and Myles had a bedroom much like that one, including the wooden train track!
Anyway sitting in the garden today listening to children playing, birdsong, the low rumble of male conversation two or three doors down as well as the usual traffic this poem popped into my head and I couldn't rest until I had found it and read it.
Shirley Hughes' work may well be my desert island book. What children's books do you love?

Raising an Adult - Dinner at Oxford

On Saturday Mark and I made the beautiful drive through the Cotswolds to Oxford to meet up with Erin and to attend the parents' dinner at her college. There is one held every term but for various reasons we have missed every one so far.i have been really looking forward to attending one and soaking up the atmosphere.
For those of you who have an image in your head about what dinner in hall is like I am pleased to tell you that you are probably right! It was pleasingly like Hogwarts and very magical. The food was beautiful and we sipped Balliol wine. What I loved most was getting to spend time with Erin in such an adult situation. Suddenly my girl is a sophisticated, intelligent and very beautiful woman. I am constantly stunned that I have such a daughter - only a few years ago I was bringing her home from hospital too stilled by responsibility to do anything other that take photos and sit and stare. I read many blogs of wonderful women with young children and I am filled with nostalgia, what an amazing journey we go on as parents and what a wonderful gift those adults in the making are.

The Weekend So Far

Bank holiday weekend - hip hip hooray! Having woken up to a rainy morning my heart sank but this day has blossomed into a beauty. Today has been a gentle clearing, sorting, pottering sorts of day. Tonight Mark and I are off to Oxford for parent's dinner at Erin's college which should be fun. Tomorrow I have my fingers crossed for more time in the garden.
Do you have lovely plans for a restful weekend?

Nature in the Home

Remember these? Well those cups were very small. I did a little re-potting. I love these Tate and Lyle tins, both the golden syrup and the treacle and I keep them once I have finished them to use for all sorts. This time  it is making a lovely pot for pansies. The rest are going outside as I think it is finally spring!

Linking with Lou...

Nature in the Home

Having missed last week's nature in the home I am late with this weeks. Lou set a challenge to make this weeks a foraged contribution. These are from my garden. I love big flowers that really make a statement. Every year I cut these (Kerria japonica) and love the huge colour burst they bring; little fluffy balls of sunshine.

Do you have favourite smells? Suddenly, unexpectedly, one of mine was there tonight. There is a smell you get in the summer at the end of a warm day if it starts to rain, a smell that rises from the pavement. Do you know the one I mean? I think it is the smell of pollution but it is also the smell of warmth. Catching the smell today put a skip in my step, summer is a-coming!

Linking with lou at little green shed  

Raising Adults

I have been thinking about friendship recently. Friends are such a joy in life aren't they? One of the elements that make life worth living. So the question is - how do you help your children make those friendships? I think there are many elements to this and it isn't an easy question to answer.

There are times when I worried for my children, times when they have faced that ogre of bullying, times when friends seem to be a poor influence, times when shyness has made them feel lonely and times when I could happily have, you know, shot one of the 'friends'. Mama tiger and her cubs and all that.
One of the key roles for a parent is to be a model for their children and that comes to friendships too. Mark and I have held our friendships dear, regularly meeting friends that are far away in miles if not in our hearts. Those meetings have been filled with conversation, teasing, laughter, music and love. Our children have always been a part of this, not through design but because that is what felt natural. Of course we haven't done this for the children - we have done it for ourselves, our own sanity and happiness but the children have benefited too.
Sometimes there is pleasure and gain.
If we like to have friends in our home then why wouldn't the children? It is a pleasure to me when children bring their friends home, although I have to confess that this pleasure has increased as the children have got older. I am naturally comfortable with teens and love their company and the energy they bring into the home.
Friendship can last for a lifetime. I hope that that will be as true for my children as it has been for us.

The image comes from my Pinterest board 'on the table' .

Wonderful Day

For quite a while now I have been counting down the days to the 20th April. Last February I bought my lovely friend Alison a swim and lunch voucher for Bristol Lido for her birthday. Of course I rather hoped that she would want me to come too - luckily she did! I had read about the lido via Emma at Bradshaw and Sons and Lottie at Oyster and Pearl. Both had written in such glowing terms about the Lido that I was determined to go there myself.

The Lido really did live up to my expectations from the moment we stepped through the door. Firstly the day was sunny (!spring!) and we had had a fantastic drive down from Malvern and arrived in time for coffee at the lovely cafe. We watched the early swimmers plough up and down and admired the steam raise off the water. I was much reassured by this as I do NOT do cold water! 

Finally it was time to swim. The staff were so friendly, happily showing us round and making us feel really welcome. After a lovely swim in water that contains minimal chlorine, and so a pure pleasure to swim in,  I felt really refreshed and relaxed - and ready for lunch. However a little beautifying first! The Lido has wonderful showers stocked with their own spa products. I'm telling you  I smelt gorgeous! Then into the boudoir to dry my hair and put on a little make-up before lunch. It felt glamorous to have a dressing table to do that at. I may start a one woman campaign to bring one back into my our bedroom.

The restaurant is beautiful and lunch was a real treat. We both started with delicious, garlicky, buttery scallops cooked in a wood oven. Mmmm mmm I can not emphasise how perfect they were. I love scallops and am very fussy about how they are cooked, these were some of the nicest I have ever had. I followed this with roast lop pork served with watercress (another favourite) and a purée of parsnip and vanilla. The head chef is Freddy Bird and we were both knocked out by the quality of the food. 

If I sound gushing about Bristol Lido it is because I am - it is a wonderful place to visit and it really does feel like you have been on holiday for the day. If you are anywhere close to Bristol I certainly recommend that you visit. You will find all you need to know on the web site. I will be going back, hopefully very soon. Mark may find a voucher in his birthday pile and I,  of course will be his plus one!

I mainly took photos on my film camera (digital one being broken) I hope to add more photos later...

Nature in the Home

Bit late with 'Nature in the Home' this week. These are the left overs from a bunch of flowers I was given at Easter. I love lilies, they smell so beautiful and the little white flowers are just so sweet. 

Linking up with Little Green Shed's Nature in the Home series.