Wanderings and other stuff

Stony Woods again.  We drove past the little houses on the hill, tiny front doors peeling paint, wide worn stone steps with fat cats sunning themselves.  I'd love to live here, our favourite little village.  It's a warm and friendly place, a place that fills us up with peacefulness.


Baby exploring the giant stone star chart.  She spent ages poking the little indentations of the stars, and crawling out of her booties, and kneeling up bouncing and laughing at herself.  And nursing, interrupting my endless cast-off row for Sue's shawl!



The girls all fell asleep in front of the television, watching the Olympic opening ceremony.  None of them stayed up more than fifteen minutes later than their normal bedtimes, in spite of their very best efforts!


On Saturday the electrics cut out just after Martin went to work, so the girls and I locked up the house and walked into town to get away from the alarm beeping until it could be fixed for me.  I struggled to go slow and be present for the endless distractions and diversions that a walk with children entails.


I was chanting to myself, "be here now, be here now!"  About halfway I started to relax and accept the adventure for what it was; walking four children along the main road on a busy Saturday is pretty much my nightmare parenting scenario, but I enjoyed it.  :)


What else..?  We had to give in and get a new vacuum cleaner.  The other one was held together with duct tape as it was, but the wires started fraying and it was pretty hit and miss as to whether it turned on or not!  I tried sweeping the floor for a week, but it looks gritty enough ten minutes after I hoover it, so sweeping was *not* cutting it.

The box is the children's new favourite toy.  Unfortunately, the favourite game is to get inside, crouch down, and rock forwards until the box crashes down.  I had to insist that they not push each *other* over inside it - after the two middle ones both got bumps from playing that game - but oh the shrieks of happy laugher!  It's not a quiet game.

I've dyed another few skeins of yarn, and am full of project ideas.  :)  Oh, and Miss Baby Dimples said her first "word" this week: on Saturday she started saying, "hii-yah" when we play peekaboo with her.  She demonstrated this impressive trick loudly at anyone who looked at her at church on Sunday - along with begging the old ladies for their cups of tea!