Friday 2 December 2016

Elves...

Elves - little buggers!


Be careful what you start, I think, once it's a tradition it's never going away! Ours bring the Advent box, and pop back each night to leave a gift - lovely chaps :-) They are, however, quite talented at disguise and concealment - unlike their "on the shelf" cousins. I like our more intelligent types, who know how to hide when necessary - although I have been known to curse their very souls at 3am when I realise the lacksadaisical little tykes have forgotten where they should be.


Advent is inspiring me again - love the season to be merry - looking for the good, trying to be kind ...



Saturday 19 November 2016

Having a bit of a moment...

I've been having a bit of a moment - for quite a while now - been trying to move on, but not quite getting there. So, now thinking it's time - deal with it and ...


Pick yourself up girl, dust yourself off, and start all over again ... think it was the disappointment really - got so close to the campervan, and then ... but also it was Daisyfay's last term of Y5, which was really rather stressful - not nice to listen to your child decimate themselves, because, you know, I actually think she's rather fab! Anyway, as it went, it could have been worse - and we've been working on the positives - and maybe now is the time to look at my positives too...


Back being itinerant, which I do like, but frugality is also back big-stylie, possibly not a bad thing ... planning some forward-looking positivity ... sorry for being introspective, but love the fact that people out there listen...


Next time I WILL see the positives, one step backwards, two steps ahead...

Tuesday 2 August 2016

The Techno-fairies of DOOM

This post was supposed to happen a week ago - but the Techno-fairies intervened. My photos wouldn't work, Blogger went doolally on me and wouldn't let me redraft, and, to top it off, my phone has expired - not good!
The phone wouldn't have been much good anyway, as we have no signal (which is no bad thing), but, despite this, we do have wi-fi (when the Techno-fairies are in the mood!).


So, it was supposed to be about ups and downs, swings and roundabouts ... it's been a fairly torrid month (I do like that word!) - lots of ups and downs!


On an up: Cornwall, relaxation, surfing, beach - a bit of focus. I love it here. We left VERY early and were on the beach at 9am, in the sunshine. The Miracle girl is settled in nicely - sea nymph habits kicking back in ... I love seeing her outdoors, relaxed, happy ... she's been a bit stressed lately, not good really - but that's another story - so, even more content seeing her now. πŸ„πŸŒŒ⛺️🌊


5am - halfway there...

9am - a little bit of heaven ...



Happy ...



Downs - ah well ... campervan had to go back - yet another story ... oh, and unemployed, again ...
Still, I appear to have defeated the Techno-fairies of Doom ...

Monday 27 June 2016

Rejuvenation

Oh, I am on it! Got a plan. Movin' on up. Dealing ...


I am still so excited, I see possibilities, and a freedom to be...


However, we need to get going - a financial plan is needed - so far it goes - sell the contents of the house, welly up the tutoring, enjoy the time! Think this plan needs refining!


Supply is good, I enjoy it. Hoping I get enough, especially if I get to go back to where I am now. I like it there, so crossing my fingers... You have to look forward, and I'm seeing something worth having.


The plan, with a touch of refinement (you know I love a breakdown...):


* sell any extraneous stuff in the house - ebay, other sites, car boots ... twofold result  :-)


* make stuff


* sew stuff


* shop local - kind of emphasising this one again - we're going to need to soon.


The whole support your local economy was one of the things I meant the blog to push way back when - so, feeling rejuvenated, and intending to go with this.


We're all in this together, he said ... difference is, I believe it ...

Sunday 26 June 2016

Practicalities

So, here we are. We have a campervan. It's pretty cool.




                                         




                                       







Going to still be dreaming - whichever way the cookie crumbles, frugality is going to be up there. But, we will have the campervan and its associated freedom :-) .


Step 1 - M.O.T. - Eeek! Please! But should do...


Step 2 - Frugality and making more money - Prongs 1 and 2 will need a raised profile!

But in the meantime...


* Daisyfay has spent the whole afternoon sitting in it, ostensibly doing her (late) homework.


* We are planning an excursion to The Farm http://www.thefarmburscough.co.uk/ - our favourite after school ice cream and Sunday morning breakfast destination. They also have a campsite and Daisyfay has asked many times to camp there. But now we're thinking - great place to practise. And if we don't let her sleep in it soon ...


She cried when she realised we'd really bought it. So did I.


Oh yay, roll on everything ...





Friday 24 June 2016

Carpe Diem

Oh my ...

Seize the day - that's what it means - and we did!

Been contemplating recklessness this week - probably impending poverty rearing its head! Got that "how bad can it be" feeling. I know about sensible, but I'm also seeing these days how quickly time slips away. I don't want it to be gone before we did it, every bit of it...

So we bought a campervan. ... oh yes we did ... 

Really...


Thursday 26 May 2016

Banana bread or pancakes?

There's more to that question than meets the eye - if I'm asking, it means I have time. It means I have time to be ΓΌber-mommy and make fancy breakfasts. More often than not though, this is a distant dream - for both me and Daisyfay (who is rather partial to both banana bread and pancakes).



I'm back to looking for gaps again, and was mightily relieved that today was my last day before half term, when I can race around like a mad thing trying to catch up with everything. Starting with the washing. My mastery of the washing is now officially below expectations, caused by missing its' slot. Washing happens most days, but not on Mondays and Tuesdays, when no time slot is available as work, tutoring and Daisyfay's social whirl overpower me. Washing then emerges with a vengeance on a Wednesday, at which point it has usually reproduced at an alarming rate. It is intersperersed with marking, as I multitask like a whirling dervish, and has to be well on the way by the time The Miracle Girl goes to choir at 7 o'clock. It's like dominoes, if it doesn't all happen at the right time everything that follows collapses. It collapsed. Instead of washing/ marking, I spent two and a half hours traipsing from town to town (literally,), from shop to shop, looking for fernicketing ( I made that up, like Lewis Carroll) black P.E. pumps. Now it's not that I object to buying the pumps per se ( well, to be honest, in this particular case, I do - but that's another story ... ), what I object to is the last minute notice which steals my time. I don't have a lot. I am engaged in continuous striving to maximise what I have, so that I can be there for my child - when my time is stolen I lose those minutes, I'll never get them back. So, P.E. pumps, they fit badly - you can't just buy them, you have to try them on, and check they don't fall off if you move. And not everywhere stocks them at this time of year, and not everywhere has all the sizes, and even if they have the correct size that doesn't mean they will actually fit - hence Clarkes size 2 is too small, size 2.5 too big! Took 4 shops, in 2 separate towns, factor in the petrol ... pumps bought - knock on, no washing, no marking - need to get up early to do marking so children can do today's lesson - not a happy bunny.



And time has other aspects - it does that flying thing - the memories you make, the photographs you take, the events and milestones you expect to have - when someone steals those, it makes you very sad ...



This is not my most positive post ever, but I cried - the thief of time, was that a book ...? I'll live - the sun'll come up tomorrow - I checked the weather forecast ...

Sunday 17 April 2016

A little bit of nature

Daisyfay went to forest school. She loved it - so much so that I had to pay for a second day. Loved her enthusiasm and the fact that she would tell me about everything she'd done - and it reminded me about what I want for her, which is so much not what our education system is now. It's how to avoid it though. Anyway, forest school, and a little bit of nature, certainly kept her happy. Muddy face, muddy boots,  fabulousness ...


The tangled thoughts are slowly unravelling, and I'm working my way towards a plan. I have been ebaying, and am plotting car boot domination! Enough to cover the tooth crown and MOT trauma would be a good start ...


Campervan ... feeling a sense of urgency ... and recklessness ... maybe it's time for direct action!


In case you're interested, highly recommended ...














Campervans ... nature ... adventure ... there's a world out there ...