The Legacy of Unending War

War has affected so much, from the chemicals and gases of the First World War and the nuclear bombs used on Japan in the 1940's to all the weapons used now. None were used in a vacuum or controlled way so that they have spread everywhere over our beautiful planet on the winds, in the earth and through the water. It makes me sad and angry that so much damage is being wrought upon so many by power seeking, scared, thoughtless, selfish humans. Sorry for the rant, will understand if you choose not to read my blog any more. Merry Christmas!

Celebrations

I've been feeling rather emotional over the last few days and had put it down to overtiredness as I have been burning the candle at both ends whilst preparing for Christmas.

Today, in a brief moment of quietness, I realised that the reason is because my beautiful daughter, December, is going to be 10 years old tomorrow (Christmas Eve).

I cannot quite believe that a decade has passed since her dramatic arrival into this world.

I love her so much and am very proud of all that she has already achieved and hope that the next 10 years are as good to her as the first 10 have been.

Happy birthday, darling girl x

Witness

Tonight, in Chichester Cathedral, I witnessed a young woman being forcibly dragged away from her friend and flung over the shoulder of a man who carried her away down the aisle whilst she screamed for help and for him to put her down. 

No-one moved to help her.

This time it was ok. This time it was BTEC Level 3 Performing Arts students from Chichester College presenting a piece about how people become displaced from their homes and why they become refugees.

Later in the evening, a young Chinese man stood at the lectern and spoke passionately about the situation in China and events of 2014 where people took part in peaceful protests against their government about their legal rights being eroded. 

He bore witness to those who endured violence from the police, being pepper sprayed and beaten, many dragged away to prison.

I have no recollection of this having been reported on in the UK.

This was not ok.

How can we, as individuals, come together to prevent injustices and violence being perpertrated by governments / those in power over us?

Don't Panic! Breathe

Breathe. Breathing in deeply and slowly in a time of panic is good, it usually enables you to regain your sense of perspective.

In the run up to Christmas it can be very easy to lose sight of what matters, what is important.

Whether you celebrate Yule or Christmas all that really matters is who you spend it with, not how many gifts you share or how much food is on your table.

So, if you start to feel that everything is beginning to overwhelm you take a step back, put on a warm coat, step out of your door and go for a walk in your nearest green space and breathe. Allow the sights and scents of nature to replace the frenetic mist in your mind.

If you're in town, head somewhere peaceful such as a library or museum, even an art gallery. A place where you can step out of the whirlwind of activity and refocus on your centre. Be still.

Anniversary Thanks

One year ago today I started this blog.

I was very trepidatious and uncertain as to how my first post would be received.

Fortunately I received a warm welcome and have been amazed and humbled at how far my blog posts have reached around the world from the UK to the Philippines and to France and Russia and beyond.

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog and a big thank you to those who have commented too :)

Christmas Craft Fair

December and I have been very busy the last couple of weeks, making items to sell at a local Christmas themed craft fair.

Some background: about three years ago a friend (who is a prolific and skilled crafter) was visiting us and discussing her plans for the craft fair. December overheard the conversation and, later that day, started talking to me about her desire to design and make a Christmas tree bauble to sell at the fair. She was just 7 years old at this point.

I suggested that she drew some pictures of what she wanted it to look like and then I showed her how to make up a paper pattern, from which she could produce a more sturdy cardboard template to work with.

We went shopping at a nearby craft  shop and December chose the materials that she needed to make her prototype. I helped where requested with what stitches to use and some cutting out.

At this point I approached my crafty friend and told her what was occurring and asked whether she would allow December to share one of her tables at the fair, to which she readily agreed as well as giving advice as how to best market the decorations.

This fair was a great success, December sold over half her Christmas Robins and decided that she was going to make more for the following year's fair.

The following year the fair was much quieter (not sure why) and so only two Robins sold.

Last year December designed two new decorations to sell at the fair, as she thought that one reason she hasn't sold so many the previous year was because she hadn't added to her range.

The fair was a disaster. It was even quieter than the previous year, the table she was sharing was busy with a broad range of crafts and nothing sold. December was devastated. It took quite a lot of positive encouragement to convince her that it wasn't her fault that none of her items sold (helped by various friends and family buying most of what she had made when they visited pre-Christmas).

So, this year I was not expecting December to be interested in making anything to sell at the fair.

In late September my crafty friend told me that she wouldn't be taking part in the fair this year due to pressures of work and offered one of her usual tables to December. We (that is December and I) discussed her offer and December decided to give it one more go, so my friend informed the lady organising the fair who contacted me to confirm our plans.

December designed two more new decorations and in late October we went shopping for new supplies to make them up.

The fair is this Friday. I would say that December is, at best, ambivalent in her expectations of success and we have had several conversations where she has wondered whether it is worth proceeding.  She has asked me to make some preserves to put on her table at the fair which I have done - Whisky Marmalade and Boozy Berry Jam!

She is 9 years old and loves designing and creating craft projects. The Christmas ones are extra special to her, particularly as she likes to earn money so that she can buy Christmas presents for her family and friends.

So, I'm hoping that there will be a good turnout at the fair on Friday and that she has some success.

Thoughts from the Shower #8

I've had a few conversations with December over the last week or so about Advent Calendars, specifically her asking why I don't buy chocolate filled ones.

It occurred to me this morning that one of my reasons is that once the chocolate has been taken out there is nothing behind the door, except the plastic packaging. 

Following this line of thought, I found myself wondering whether the empty plastic behind the door is representative of the overly commerial approach generally taken towards the festive season nowadays?

I Climbed the Tor!

I unexpectedly found myself climbing Glastonbury Tor. I know, that sounds like something you would plan to do - rather than find yourself doing by accident! However, given my physical limitations I had resigned myself to the fact that after our family visit to the Chalice Well (a beautiful, tranquil place) I would sit either in the car or on a bench and wait for my husband and daughters to climb the Tor.

Lion's Head Fountain, Chalice Well Garden

However, as we were leaving the Chalice Well a chance conversation with one of the friendly volunteers meant that we found out about a road we could take to a spot with disabled parking which would cut the walk from Glastonbury to the top of the Tor in half. At this point all I thought was how great it was that I would get a closer view of this special monument.

When we arrived at the parking spot it was deserted (probably because it was lunchtime on a Sunday!) so we had no difficulty parking. We all got out of the car and put on warm coats, hats and scarves as the weather was looking like rain was due and the wind was cold and then, well, and then my feet led me through the gate into a field with a concrete path leading up towards the Tor. To my right I saw what looked like a large granite rock which, upon closer inspection, I realised was a milestone for Wells. 

As I turned around I saw this view:

I really thought that the heavens were going to open and that we were going to get soaked, so it was rather odd that when I next stopped to look around I found myself here:

At this point I had a discussion with my husband as to whether it was sensible for me to attempt the climb (seeing as my feet seemed pretty determined to lead me up there!!). I had both my walking sticks with me, the rain wasn't yet falling (in fact, the clouds were thinning by now) and, the deciding factor, June and December were well ahead of us and already scrambling up the steeper slope.

So, off I went. This was taken about half way:

I had to keep stopping to let more agile people pass me by (and also to rest) and just after I took this photo I realised how vertiginous the path was (and that it would look even worse going back down!). So, I dug in and slowly, determinedly, made my way to the top.

I felt very emotional on gaining the summit, as this was somewhere I had wanted to visit for a very long time and had thought it was beyond me.

My husband enjoying the view from the top

2015 has been a difficult year for me health-wise and I am so glad that we decided to stop at Glastonbury on our way to see family in Cornwall. Our visit to the Chalice Well and gardens followed by the Tor gave me such a strong sense of personal achievement and, through the tears of joy and pain, I felt as though a weight had lifted from me.

Baking with June

In my October copy of Waitrose Food magazine June noticed a recipe for Campfire Brownies (Campfire Brownies recipe link ) and asked me if she could make them.

I had a look at the recipe and found that it would be very simple to make it gluten free so agreed.

I should explain that the main reason June was attracted to this recipe was that the brownies were covered with marshmallows! Here are the photos we took:

Brownie mix about to go into the oven

Part-baked brownie before marshmallows added

Brownie with marshmallows before going back into the oven

Cooked brownie and just-started-to-melt marshmallows, waiting to be cut up

I am sure you can imagine that, once the cake had cooled enough, it was eaten very quickly! The only change I made to the recipe to make it gluten free was to use Dove's Farm Gluten Free Plain Flour instead of standard plain flour. The brownies that I was able to box up kept well (but were all eaten within 3 days of baking!).

Keeping Your Chin Up . . .

. . . even though you feel like closing down. Shutting out. Blocking.

"Some people are more stoic." Really? Really?? What's that supposed to make me feel? Weak?

"Some people handle pain better than others." So what am I meant to take from that?

"Other people are in a far worse situation than you." Wow, that's going to really make me feel better. Not.

"This too will pass", is probably one of the more helpful phrases I've heard - but its still overused and often employed to end a conversation where the other feels unable to continue supporting. Which is understandable, given that everything is meant to be solvable by taking a pill, having therapy, saying a prayer or reading a special book.

Whatever you do, hide your pain, smile through your tears, tell everyone you're fine when they ask if you're OK. Especially if you aren't.

I've been told that, "God doesn't give you more than you can handle", so many times that I must be some kind of emotional superhero by now. I don't think any of the negative events in life are caused by any God anymore than I think the good things are.

I know this because, amongst other things, I've known too many people to suffer, whether painful diseases, mental agonies or accidents - very young, young or older - to be able to believe that there could be a divine purpose to their suffering.

Trying to be there for a friend or relative who is suffering, for whatever reason, is great if you can manage it however, if you find it too much please, please, please do not shut them down with platitudes such as, " Everything happens for a reason". It's not the case and is a hurtful and unhelpful thing to say. I've said it. We've all probably said it - at some point or other. Whether to someone else or to ourselves, attempting to convince ourselves that awful, painful experiences are not random. Which, of course, they are.

Sunset

Thoughts from the Shower #7

It does worry me how the food requirements of 'First World' countries affects the dietary needs of 'Third World' countries. After all, where do people think all their out of season fruit and veg come from?

I remember when all the international flights were grounded for a few days in 2013, how clear and peaceful the skies overhead were. Elsewhere in the world the knock-on effect of the volcanic activity was piles of fruit and vegetables left rotting at airports.

Plans Made and how the Universe Laughs at Them - or Monday Syndrome

So, this is some of what I had planned for Monday:

Dropping my dear friend Reinhild off at the bus station to take a National Express coach to Heathrow Terminal 5 to catch her flight home;

Returning a very overdue book to the library (overdue as in the library had given up on it ever being returned);

Buying some Fimo from a great little art shop in Chichester so that December could then create some animals for her miniature garden;

Encouraging December to make a final decision on a photograph she wants to enter into a competition at the end of the week, so that we could get it printed out onto photographic paper and buy an appropriately sized frame for it;

Getting on with sewing June's costume for Hallowe'en;

Working on an Autumn themed lapbook with June and December.

This is what actually happened:

Reinhild, December and I arrived at the bus station 30 minutes before Reinhild's coach was due to arrive. 10 minutes after the coach should have arrived I called the National Express helpline. The automated voice told me there was a long queue so I went online to check where the coach was on it's route. To our horror, not only was the coach not timetabled but the next one due would arrive too late for Reinhild to make her flight.

I phoned the local taxi company to find out if they could manage a short notice journey to Heathrow, which they could - for a price. I already knew that the train journey would be too long so the decision was made - I would drive Reinhild to Heathrow. However, there was no guarantee we would get there in time as there was a projected 45 minute delay on the M25.

We left home just after midday (having dropped December off and picked up my eldest) with a deadline of 2pm as Reinhild had to be through security by 2.25pm if she was to be able to get on her plane.

It was a tense drive, largely through country lanes, in driving rain. We met with many sets of roadworks, adding to our sense of impending failure, so we were delighted when we joined the M25 to find that the traffic was moving smoothly.

We reached Heathrow at 2pm and Reinhild managed to get through the security checks by the deadline, which was a huge relief.

My eldest daughter and I spent the 2 hours it took to drive home having a good chat, sprinkled with laughter and silliness, which meant that I didn't, in the end, feel that my journey had been time wasted.

Reinhild had a straightforward journey after this hiccup in her travel plans and reached her destination, Düsseldorf, before we got home!

Places that I Love to Visit #1 Weald and Downland Open Air Museum

Harvest Display in the ground floor of the Market Hall from Titchfield

We have been regular visitors to the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum recently. There are so many things to do and see there and, as members, we are able to take part in the majority of special events without extra charge. I have also found it a wonderful place to visit whilst I am recovering from my recent operation as the setting is quite beautiful with level paths through mixed woodland, meadows full of wildflowers and insect life and interesting activities to learn about. As well, there are lots of places to sit and admire the views, a cafe close to hand and easy to access facilities - which are useful when you have limited mobility.

The Twitten next to the house from Walderton

As I walked slowly through one of the meadows admiring the flowers last week, Swifts swooped around me as they chased insects during a break on their way south to Africa. I was able to study them and it seemed to me as though they had a special joy in the way they steeply banked and turned, skimming just above the heads of the flowers as they sought their supper.

Wildflower Meadow

'Young' Old Man's Beard

Hops ready for harvest

 Later, on our way past Bayleaf house, I saw that the rose bush I had photographed just a couple of months ago was now covered in rosehips and, in the fieId the other side of the fence June saw the stable cat curled up asleep in long grass. 

Harvest Moon and the Lunar Eclipse

We (that is myself, my husband and December) have spent much of the past couple of weeks discussing the imminent eclipse of the Moon. 

Today we attended a presentation at the South Downs Planetarium called The Harvest Moon and Tonight's Total Eclipse, which we really enjoyed and found it helpful in preparing us for what to expect.

Shortly after we returned home I took June and December out for a drive to see the Moon as it rose in the twilight and we managed to find a layby to pull into on the outskirts of our village and take a few photos, this one was the clearest I could take with my mobile phone:

It looked much larger to the naked eye than this photo makes it seem and we were all delighted to have managed to see it (clouds are a frequent problem for astronomers in England!). 

December and June went to bed straight after dinner so that they could get a few hours sleep before we went out to view the eclipse. I had planned to have a nap too, however we got caught up in household chores and preparing equipment for our mini-adventure so it didn't seem worth it in the end.

My husband woke the girls up just after 1am and we all dressed in warm clothes and then loaded up the car before setting off to prepare to view the eclipse. At the field we quickly emptied the boot of the car and set everything up - the girls were glad of their hats and gloves as there was a chill breeze. I got the telescope ready and took a few photos with my mobile phone but didn't get any very clear photos of the eclipse because of the breeze on the field causing too much wobble of the telescope. Definitely time to upgrade to a bigger telescope!

This is the best photo I managed to take this morning as the Moon began it's journey into the shadow of the Earth:

This is the photo I took of the fully eclipsed Moon using just my mobile phone:

Whilst waiting for the full eclipse to occur I was thrilled to see a couple of shooting stars, one to the left and the other to the right of the Moon - something I had not expected.  As the Moon moved into the Earth's shadow it began to turn a deep red, except for the very edge at the bottom which was a pale red. When viewed through binoculars or the telescope the colour was much paler than when seen by the naked eye. 

Photo taken by my husband of the Lunar Eclipse 28092015

As I looked around the suddenly very dark night sky I noticed how many more stars I could see than normal; how much brighter they seemed; that I could see the Pleiades very clearly when I looked directly at them (not an easy thing to achieve usually) and that Orion had returned from his summer break!

Photo taken during eclipse by my husband

Photo showing the brighter bottom edge of the Moon, taken by my husband

December and June were very excited about being able to see the Moon through the telescope, however they got cold very quickly even though they were wrapped in blankets and had some hot chocolate to drink. After we heard hooting from an owl followed a series of very sharp barks (which I assumed to be from a fox), June decided that she wanted to go home. She and December were fine with the owl noises but very unnerved by the fox, which was understandable as the noise they make is quite weird if you aren't used to it.

As the Moon was now midway through it's total eclipse we packed up and set off home, absolutely delighted that we had managed to see this special event. When we got home I got a great surprise - as I got out of the car I glanced up and suddenly realised that I could see the Milky Way arching across the sky above me, which was wonderful as I have never seen it before (other than in photos or on film). A brilliant end to a fantastic experience.

Early Autumn in Sussex

In the morning the grass is heavy with dew and spread with a patchwork quilt of spider's webs. Walking down the garden to see if there are any butterflies still on the buddleia is a lesson in how hard spiders work overnight, as their strong invisible webs which are spread between the bushes each side of my route stick to my arms and legs as I pass, leaving me shaking my arms in an impression of a giant trapped fly trying to shake off the sticky line. The air is cold but the sunlight is bright and the sky is blue with the odd fluffy cloud and it promises to be a fine day.

By lunchtime the dew has dried and the air is warm enough for December and June to enjoy leaping in and out of the splash pool at a local park before settling down on the blanket with us to enjoy a picnic lunch. Later, we wander along the seafront in Worthing discovering new places for the girls to play and a lovely little seafront cafe serving the best hot chocolate, gluten free cakes and with great sea views to gaze at.

The light travelling through the late afternoon air has not yet reached that syrupy tone of sepia tint that tells you that Autumn is seeping into Summer, however the hawthorn bushes are already heavy with fruit as are fruit trees and the fields are full of hay bales and pheasants that have escaped the guns of men in tweed in pursuit of sport.

The night is drawing in a little earlier each day and soon the night skies will be brilliant with all sorts of astronomical sights viewable through a much clearer atmosphere than that which is present during Summer months. This will enable my husband and I to take December and June out to explore our Solar System and the Milky Way at a much more reasonable hour than has been possible recently. We have a small telescope and binoculars and have a list of planets, stars and objects that we hope to spot and have found the presentations at the South Downs Planetarium to be most useful in helping us to learn more about the sky at night.

Beautiful Butterflies

Peacock

We have been taking part in the Butterfly Conservation Trust's butterfly count this weekend. This sedentary occupation has suited me perfectly as I am recuperating from an operation a couple of weeks ago and am not very mobile at present.

We were only required to record numbers for 15 minutes at a time, which passed so quickly that I decided to carry on for a few minutes more. After a little while my husband came to tell me that lunch was ready and I was surprised to discover that I had been sitting there for an hour or so.

In our official 15 minutes we saw 6 Peacocks; 15 Large Whites; 1 Comma; 2 Common Blues; 1 Gatekeeper and 2 Red Admirals which we were really pleased with.

Red Admiral

  

Overall I counted 30 Large Whites; 4 Gatekeepers; 3 Commas; 5 Red Admirals; 15 Peacocks and 3 Common Blues. If you would like to take part the count runs until tomorrow (Sunday 9th August) and the website is www.bigbutterflycount.org 

Gatekeeper

30 Days Wild in June : Update

I'm very aware that I didn't blog during the last week of the Wildlife Trust's 30 Days Wild in June challenge, this was because life was very busy and I just didn't have the time to sit down and write.

As a family we all very much enjoyed the daily focus on wildlife around us that this challenge brought and I'm pleased to say that it has continued.

I have always enjoyed any brief moments of respite spent in nature away from the busyness of everyday life and have developed a deeper knowledge and wider appreciation of that which surrounds me. We are very lucky that we live in a rural area and so get to see a very wide variety of animals ranging from deer and kestrels through to water shrews and crickets.

My particular focus ended up being on the wide variety of bees visiting our garden - until we took up this challenge I had no idea that there were so many and I am gratified to know that our attempts to ensure we have wild areas to attract wildlife (with a particular focus on bees and butterflies) have worked.

Unfortunately, due to ill health, we did not manage to complete our project to build a bug hotel in June, however we are moving forward with it and hope to have it finished by autumn.

Here are a few more photos of what we got up to during the challenge:

Bird's nest made by June

Summer Meadow made by June & December and their fellow Nature Detectives as a backdrop for their butterflies

June's beautiful butterfly

Shield bug in one of the wild areas of our garden

Home Ed Friday

Home Ed rocks! It wasn't yet 11am and we'd already covered several lessons:

P.E./Gymnastics : Trampolining in the garden - this week we were given a very large trampoline by our next door neighbours (who are filling the space it took up with a swimming pool!), so the girls are practising for their upcoming end of term Trampolining Class display.

English Literature : December read another couple of chapters of The Borrowers Afield in the garden. Then we talked about the characters and how they differed from those in the film 'Arietty'.

Natural History : June discovered two dead Water Shrews under/near the trampoline. She decided that the flies were on one rather than the other because it had blood coming out of it's nose (poor thing) and also commented that it was important that the flies were there, as, "They need to eat it to break it down for the life cycle". She then went and got her magnifying glass to examine them properly. Both girls were fascinated by the animal's tiny claws and how long their snouts were. There was some discussion as to whether to leave the Shrews out for their killers to devour, however it was decided that in this hot weather it would be more sensible to bury them.

Burial Practices : We talked about ways of burying dead bodies and December  talked about Egyptian mummification. A shroud was made (out of kitchen towel) and then December dug a grave under a geranium (Daddy helped as the ground is fairly hard right now). June gently placed the Shrews in their grave and then their Daddy filled it in, before June  placed a pretty stone with mica on top, to mark the spot.

Then they came in for an ice lolly each (after first washing their hands!).

30 Days Wild in June : Days 16 - 23 Summary

Life has been so busy that I have not had much time to spend online, which isn't a bad thing at this time of year. However, it does mean that I am very behind with my blogging for the Wildlife Trust challenge, which is a shame.

Here is a summary of what we have been up to over the last week:

At Nature Detectives today December and June collected leaves in the woods and were very excited when they returned to the activity room as they had seen a deer whilst out and about. Unfortunately no-one was able to get a photo of the deer, but here is an artist's impression by June as well as a photo of some of their leaves ready for pressing.









A hectic day, however June and December spent a couple of hours in the garden playing with their wild animal toys that we got from the local toy library. They really enjoyed making the lions creep through the grass before leaping on their prey!

A day of great excitement, being June's birthday :) We had a busy family day as her party was planned for the next day, however we did all manage to spend some time gazing at the Moon in the clear evening sky, which was lovely :)



























A hectic day full of bouncing children at June's Peter Rabbit themed birthday party! Above is a photo of her birthday cake which I made to fit the theme :)

A wonderful friend (who is a trained Park Ranger) put together a themed co-operative treasure hunt for the children to do around our garden, which involved collecting radishes, strawberries and jigsaw puzzle pieces as well as having to avoid being caught by Mr McGregor! June loved the Mr Rabbit's Journal with a map of our garden in the centre which was made especially for her :)

Woad

Teasel

Flowering Nettle

We had a lovely Summer Solstice, visiting the Wood Show at a local museum. December and June enjoyed having a carriage ride with their Daddy and really admired the beautiful dappled Percheron horses. We spotted some impressively tall flowering nettles as well as woad, teasels, hops and bird's foot trefoil.

Bird's Foot Trefoil

Hop

I spent about half an hour sitting in the sunshine enjoying watching the bees busy on the clover in my front garden. It was very peaceful and I could happily have sat there much longer if I hadn't needed to get on with other things.



June made one of these beautiful butterflies at her Nature Detectives group today.

I've also included a photograph of the bird's nest she made a week ago, which she is very proud of :)