Stillness

There is a stillness around me.
We have separate adventures in the daytime now.
His day is filled with paint and flour, I know as he comes home covered in it.
Of stick legs in PE shorts and waiting in line to attempt a roly poly down a rubber mat.
Crusts left and swapping crisps.
Finally sitting down at a little table even though his body wants him to move so much more. 
Fidgets allowed to break up his learning, small steps. Immense pride. 

Learning about the Romans bringing a beaming smile to history mad mummy's face.
Digging in sand for artefacts. That's two of us that want to be archaeologists. 
Home starving and home tired, bed so much earlier and without so much fuss.
A picture of him laughing in the play area with a new friend.
He was ready. Was I? 

And so the stillness surrounds me like the mist that hung on the road until lunchtime.
I didn't enjoy my walk so much today without a little hand holding on.
Allowing myself to focus on the light through the trees, it seemed a little sad.
Small steps for me too, into a new life.
Paint splatters on his sweatshirt later will remind me that we all have to find our happiness.
Breaking free to move forwards. 

On finding a school place

This year I  have decided to put my son into school as I had been home educating him since his brief spell in preschool. Now was the time for the once anxious boy, now out of his shell to venture into the big wide world and burn off some of his energy. My nerves and my house can no longer take it but he needs to added input for his speech and language among other things. Little Bird is ready to play with paints and glue, to be in a stricter routine of playtime and lunchtimes with learning activities structured around him and this has become impossible at home as well....I'm mum and he can mess me around quite a bit. We need a break from each other, different adult in his life to have influence and provide encouragement. He needed the extra time at home but now he is simply too bored and needs more than I can provide Monday to Friday. I felt like I was giving up for a while but then I realised it was simply a case of things changing and our natural development as mother and son. I feel better now that I'm being a good mum and recognising that now my little boy needs more. 

At the moment I am in waiting situation with the LEA, despite him having a full statement it seems there are lots of meetings to be had, hoops to jump through and lots of red tape. It's strange how getting him into school seems so much harder that not sending him in the first place when the LEA were keen to talk. Now, it's delay after delay and meeting after meeting, panel after panel....time wasting. The issue is really that there are no school places left, unless somebody moves at the last minute or changes their mind. Where will he go? I perhaps will know later this week but it is frustrating and a bit of a worry. I'm staying positive and then I can start to buy everything he needs which will be really exciting as he's never had all those school type things before.

5 things we need for school:

1. A school bag for all LB's books, spare clothes, drink, pencil case and the passing to and fro of notes between the teacher and I. Probably a rucksack with a nice pattern on it like cute dinosaurs or animals that is easy to wipe clean and comfortable straps for his shoulders. 

2. One of the most important items for any school child are name labels for EVERYTHING! From his coat to his bag and lunch box, they will all have some colourful labels with a little picture beside them. They will help LB know which things are his, 

3. We will also need some stationery items for school, a jolly pencil case filled with pencils, coloured pens, crayons and a ruler. For home a new calendar to keep track of school events and a notebook/diary for my bag - after all with parent's evenings and future Nativity plays to watch I will need to make sure I can quickly make a note. 

4. I can remember my school lunch box as a child, it was turquoise and had little cherubic-like characters on it, plus stickers on the back - such was the craze in the 1980's. For LB I'd like to find a cheap and cheerful lunch bag that will last a couple of terms since they get quite grotty there is not point spending a lot as I will replace it every few terms. I would quite like to find a space themed set for him complete with drinks bottle. Then I will have to look to Pinterest and try and be one of those super Bento making parents!

5. 
5. Finally a PE bag for those shorts, t-shirt and pumps. I was not a sporty child and shied away from PE lessons but perhaps my son will enjoy sports day and the egg and spoon race - I bet he won't though he's too much like me. However, we shall see and he'll certainly have a smart bag to take his things in. 

Then of course there will be the new uniform, although until I find out which school he will be going to I have no idea what it will look like. Hopefully next week I will have some news......

*Collaborative post

Leaf kicking

I'd been thinking about leaf kicking days and crisp air. I'd been thinking about how much my son loves crunching through those leaves with wellies and scooping armfuls up. So, that's what we did.

An autumn carpet, warm clothes and a dry day with all but that slight mist that seems to linger all day. Across the field of cows and through the woodland and along the pathways. Running and cheering and the nearby cows did not mind,  just carried on grazing and looking every so often from under the canopy of trees.

The wellies were making a debut, Star Wars ones for that is all that they had in his size but they look smart and kept little feet dry as they scudded and scampered in the amber heap of leaves. A time to do so for you can blink at this time of year and suddenly it is winter and sludge and bare trees. Today though, cold air biting, mushrooms springing up from logs and mellow happiness.

Sturgeon Moon

 After such a rainy summer where a lack of allotment attendance has meant an overgrown array of mares tail, grass and an ochre carpet of bee and hoverfly attracting nasturtiums, there was a surprising amount of homegrown goodies hiding amongst the vegetation to take home:

• French beans
• Borlotti beans
• Glorious orange gladioli
• A pumpkin already fallen off its stalk
• Beetroot
• Potatoes
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Courgette

After dispatching the bounty into the car I was able to take a walk around the plots as the sun dipped and buttery light streamed across the corn tassels. Still blue skies but twilight creeping in from under the railway bridge and across the vegetable patches. Sunflowers reaching for the last sunbeams before the shadows take over.

 The leeks have flowered adding a row of full stops to a strip of bare soil that once grew early potatoes and tansy from a Medieval Fayre has softened the edges with its medicinal yellow 'bitter buttons'. Once used as a strewing herb on the floors to keep the flies away, it does indeed have a strong camphorous smell. Folkore says it will keep monsters away so we gathered some to take home to see if it works......  Walking to the plots at the far end to admire a profusion of sunflowers in all sizes and past sweet peas climbing a trellis, I looked up and saw the full moon all aglow, low in the sky just above the rooftops. A sturgeon moon, so called as it marks the time when the fish can be readily caught.

One of those moments where you feel at ease, just in awe of such a majestic sight and the connection of everything from the little seeds that I sow to the tiny moths I disturb as I brush through the grass and the heady scent in the air of late summer.


Joining in with Mammasaurus for How Does Your Garden Grow?

Early spring garden

The April garden was the start of my gardening attempts ramping up again. Plans made, seeds bought and renewed enthusiasm. The Amelanchier lamarckii (snowy mespilus) came into blossom in the second week looking gorgeous with white against bronze leaves, it's a lovely tree for a small garden and the birds like the late summer berries too.On the patio area is the mini greenhouse and the area where I do all my potting up and seed planting. In the summer  months the bench will become my favourite place for a cup of tea but for now it is some extra space for seed trays and pots. I've planted mostly everything now - well first succession anyway, broad beans, French climbing beans, pumpkins, squashes, courgettes and sunflowers. There are some onion sets there too and lavender plugs from a the 72 plugs I ordered of cottage garden plants. The rest are in my kitchen as the mini greenhouse seems to attract every slug and snail in the neighbourhood and I want all my plants to grow so the garden is filled with delphiniums, carnations and coreopsis. 
 I start moving plants around and creating new tubs of primroses. herbs and other plants I find lurking. I've been dividing perennials such as Lady's Mantle and moving strawberries. The strawberries from the allotment are to be dug up and moved into pots in the garden instead so I can keep a closer eye on them, at the allotment they simply get eaten by birds, slugs etc. A primula I moved into the potager style bed I'm creating. The terrier who wants to help but does little aside from trampling seedlings and plants or rolling in dead worms or slugs.
I have lots of plants reappear which is great and saves money so hopefully tubs should fill up nicely for a pretty look on the patio. I'll be buying plants throughout the season, adding to the collection but really I don't want to spend a lot at all. I usually pick extra plants up at Aldi as they are reasonably priced and it's nice to buy new plants on our travels, honesty stalls, farmer's markets and garden nurseries.  Of course Little Bird loves the garden too, he likes to sit on our rocking bench further down the garden by the honeysuckle, often standing on there to peep over into next door. We bought him a new water table to replace the one that broke, lots of scoops and pouring going on. Really need to tidy out his yellow play shed and find old favouites in there such as the red wagon and market stall. No doubt there will be plenty of spiders in there and mildew to wipe away. LB likes to enthusiastically water all my plants :)  April was a flurry of activity and May will be the same, more seeds to sow to replace any lost to slugs and plenty of potting up of my cottage garden plugs - some lost to damping off which is really annoying. The tiny bit of lawn needs re-turfing and the pathway relaying and I can't wait to compare to see how much everything has grown. This is my favourite view over the rooftops and mine and my neighbour's garden. Some gorgeous sunsets over the last few weeks and it's a great spot for cloud spotting. 

Scarecrow festival for the brave

Half term frolics among the stuffed straw lot at Tatton Park....bit creepy aren't they? 
Brimmed hats, sack faces, pink dresses, menacing eyes, confused smiles. Friends or foes?

A lone scarecrow in a field is bad enough but a congregation like this and a meeting of straw minds is enough to make you run. After all, you have to be suspicious of a scarecrow in winter with no seeds to scare the crows away from......they must be up to something else instead.
 Nope no signs of anything unusual here in the kitchen garden, apart from the grasshopper playing the violin of course.   Spookiest of the lot!   Some jungle scarecrows and the BFG. A couple of friends that we have met before here by the leafy fronds and the waterfall.  This one will hypnotise you with his eyes.   Along the paths and springing out from bushes, some odd characters. March on very quickly!  Probably the creepiest greenhouse you will see, where the scarecrows get reanimated in the heat. Don't be fooled by them all slumped over the potting benches....they are waiting....