Foraging on bilberry hill

For bilberries and blackberries.

Look at these beauties! 

Will and I spent a morning in beautiful autumn sun up on bilberry hill in the lickey hills in Birmingham. 

I'd never been before and decided to explore as we dropped of my bezzy Jude at a conference in brum and were really near by. 

Ayls Fowler's lovely book 'the thrifty forager' had a page on bilberries with photos of bilberry hill and it had been on my mind to go there when we could.

It's such a beautiful place- views of the city on one side and of the countryside the other. 

It took a while for me to find the berries as they are so small and hide well beneath the leaves but once my eye was trained I found hundreds!

It's lovely meditative foraging- you have to get knee deep into the bushes and really poke around and feel your way. No thorns or prickles in this beautiful plant- maybe a spiders web or two.

Bilberries are really similar to the blueberries I've grown in the garden- smaller, an more bitter when raw but William loved them just the same.

We also found lots of blackberries- they made a tasty crumble with the apples scrumped  from my friends garden.

We found a secret fairy door in a random tree- I was so excited- William indifferent! Ha ha- we couldn't open the door- guess we didn't have a fairy key!

He left some cones he found for the fairy folk and carried on picking his berries and chasing around in the woodlands.

We also found a fairy toadstool! 

What a magical morning- I think the fairy folk are doing a grand job of protecting and nurturing this beautiful place- and the park rangers probably help them out too!

Scarecrow festival

Lovely day today in belbroughton at the scarecrow festival!it was gloriously sunny and warm and the children had a whale of a time!

!

Just look at the cuteness of them all holding hands, we didn't even instigate it.

William and his cousins Niamh and buster were so excited to see each other they all leapt up and down and squealed!

The whole village take part putting scarecrows out on their lawns or on the street, this years theme was 'what makes Britain great' there were lots of churchills!

As well as scarecrows there's fun fairs and pony rides and all the trimmings of a little English village fete! Very well organised and beautiful.

The best part for me and sis Nikki was seeing them together again, so happy to play together, it's a joy to watch them grow up with each other and always amazing to share precious memories with them.

They spent ages just running around a park with no entertainment other than each other and nature. The boys and their sticks...

Niamh and mummy climbing trees!

And as always the obligatory pile on Clare bear was a feature! I actually had to call Nik in to remove them as it all got a bit much when will sat on my head!

Such a fab day will definitely go next year too. 

Autumn sunshine topped it off!

X

Tired out and September update

So so so tired! Why am I so tired out? Maybe it's the seasonal shift? 

Work is crazy right now, staff down and trying to cover 4 people's work with just two of us. We ARE coping though, miraculously, a sense of humour and chocolate breaks away from the desks essential for maintaining mental well being! 

I'm managing in the day, but just laid out shattered beyond belief after story time with wills. 

I'm just letting this be, it's meant to be. It's probably a subconscious coping mechanism to deal with the busy days.

Life has been a bit crazy for months now, lots of travelling around at weekends in between crazy work! It's time for some quiet time, reflection on what's been a fab summer. 

What I need is a couple of simple homely weekends putting the garden to bed and tidying the house for winter.

Had a glut if apples from my friend and a weekend stewing and freezing for when I have time to actually use them all!!

Love cutting open the freshest and sweetest seasons apples and seeing the magical star! William was amazed to find a star in the middle

Me and little man had a fab 2 hour walk around our fave place on Monday, got loads of blackberries and identified some herbs and found damsons too- bit bitter though!

Last weekends travels took us to London to see James brother and his mrs and their beautiful newborn Florence. How cute is she? Well worth the long drive to have a snuggle x

This week we also harvested some potatoes from the bags- I replanted some for will so be could find them

In his fave tub of soil- very exciting- ha them for tea too! Yum x

The garden has done well on the whole 

this year, but despite gigantic trifid like squash plants not one of the flowers seems to have actually set fruit-  not sure what happened there. And all my to tomatoes are as green as can be despite  being well sized and round.

Beans and beet root, carrots and spuds all did well as did courgettes and the pop corn looks like it'll be ready soon. Chard and lettuce also had a good year. Not bad for a tiny garden hey? Sad to say all the alliums were a diaster due to some nasty little miner bugs and I'm completely giving up with and brassicas as the cabbage white wins every time round here!

Random Updates from September ..... 

Some sleep is in order now, before another busy few days. Xx

Still thankful, and trying to be mindful... Trying!

Just So Festival 2013

Just so,  a magical day out for the kiddies. This was the second time we've been and was even better than last year.

It rained, again.. They really need to pick a drier week! Although it didn't get in the way and we had dry spells too.

Highlights were the rock balancing men

Who rock!!!

Me and the boys had a go too, buster preferred to knock them down but that just saved my embarrassment at being rubbish at it!

Check out wills festival hat- with feather to top it off!

We discovered a mushroom wood- they were made from twisted brown paper bags- an example of how simple and effective art can be and also how inspiring!

William tickled the nose of the fairy queen who they met in a tipi in the depths of the fairy woods. 

Then they played twist the wooden Lolly pops with nanny Annie.

We saw a dance piece by two strange women ... I'm sorry but it was strange! Although the kids seemed to love it. No photo evidence of that one- it's in James camera so may follow.

They were told a story about a girl in Africa by a lady in a tent.

Trampled through the woods and met wild things.

Went to cowboy school and learnt the tricks....

And generally got in the festival vibe that was over too soon.

We keep promising ourselves well do the whole weekend one year- I'm sure it's magical at night around the fire.

Mindful and grateful

Life is amazing today, the summer has been very kind to us, generous in itself for the crisp mornings and almost endless sunny days and adventures in new places.

I feel full to bursting with happiness and gratitude for the summer, our time as a family together, the amazing generosity of friends and strangers who've become friends.

My mind swims with images of our last few months, beaches and rivers, mountains and streams, fires in the night and music and discussion and laughter.

Williams giggles and amazement and how much he has grown and learnt and taught us too.

Reunion with an old and very special friend, nostalgia and a heart bursting with remembrance and recognition.

Garden growing, thriving- after a disappointing couple of summers.

Creativity, I feel like I've HAD time, something that so often seems to elude me.

Realising on return to work from my holidays that I love my job and the amazing girls I work with, refreshed, willing, engaged for the next challenge and project.

Only trying to balance, keep a check- noticing that we all have times that are harder to bear. Not personally for me today but for people I love, grief and acceptance, pain and emotional hardship- it's difficult to think of these things when I'm vibrating on another level- a level I know I need to be on now- it's right for me.

Knowing that I'm blessed to be in a good place and from where I can offer support and love in a valuable way- rather than feeling it as another drain on an already weary soul.

This time of year is always powerful for me- it brings renewal and change.

Sometimes overwhelming but now it feels exciting and hell yeah! Bring it on.

So much is in flux, home? Nursery, Sisters school, new staff, 1st anniversary of our wedding day, rolling with it, smiling and embracing and remembering to be mindful and grateful of every little bit.

You know what? I've always known this but., looking for the next thing, or looking back... It's really not that helpful to my mental health. Plan yes, remember fondly or with a lesson learnt- yes. But mostly, most important of all- just be, feel, notice, smell and devour every happy moment when I'm in it- soon it's past and gone- better to live right now, instantaneously, whole heartedly, passionately, scream if you wanna go faster-ly breathe and become the moment!

That's my new season resolution, I plan to hold on to this clarity- keep it breathing and growing and evolving- exciting, where next! Oh yeah, sorry forgot already- just here and now.

For right now, sleep beautiful sleep......and time for dreaming.

Miniature pony centre!!! Awwww

Best day of holiday- at least in James book! Lovely miniature ponies and donkeys. So cute. 

I was in love with the donkeys but the tiny ponies I just couldn't deal with, actually the cutest things ever (with the exception of ceebee the cockerel) They loved a pat and a cuddle.

At first James hung back taking snaps and admiring how much wills and I were enjoying ourselves. 

Then Things changed! 

I talked him in to hugging one of the titch ponies and he literally couldn't get enough- ha ha

Wish I could post vids on here as you have to see it to believe it- he flipping loved those tiny tims!

He said the first hug he had was worth the ten pound entry fee! Told me he wanted to hug them all- ha ha

Think he was only slightly joking. He didn't quite achieve his ambition but got a fair few of them hugged before we left.

William had ride on a pony called honey and was chatting to the lady all the way round bless him!

We also had a lovely time running around the gardens, on trampolines and had the obligatory ice cream- not a day passed on holiday when he didn't sample the local icy delights- yarde farm is my fave!

Not directly  related but here is ceebee the cockerel who we visited on the way to Devon at puxton farm - I love him!!!