when i grow up?

i have not written here for a long time, still been here visiting though, reading what my lovely sister has been up to. sometimes i feel as if we are living in a parallel world. we have been watching the same programmes, and doing similar projects, thinking similar thoughts, and the same flowers even decorate our homes. but somehow, somewhere along the road i have lost my ability to blog, or maybe i have just lost the ability to photographically record what we have been up to.

i have to admit that i have been in a bit of a creative funk which i am trying to pull myself out of. i don't mean to wallow in my lack of lustre but sometimes i find things in the creative community a little fluffy lacking the reality of life, or maybe just the reality of my life. the times when i just want to pull my hair out and scream because my child has pushed me just that little bit too far, or times when you have to stop yourself being mad because you know, its really you not them.

it is difficult not to compare yourself to all these people who seem so sorted and together. i am still not sure what i want to be when i grow up, and with my baby boy starting school soon, i really should be thinking harder about it all. so what do i enjoy doing? i love making fancy dress costumes, but i'm not sure that raspberries make much money, maybe if they teamed up with some cream.



i love my garden, these are my chilli's in there own little green houses.



and my broad beans finally in flower after so long in the ground.



i love going to the bike park with franc who has now started riding a skateboard, all his trousers have holes in the knees, he does look cool though!



i love this doodling robot too.



i love looking back at old pictures. it makes me realise how quickly time flies (an old cliche i know) but suddenly i get it. i am very grateful for every day and now i just need to find a good project to get my teeth into, and then decide what to be when i grow up.



ambika x

a few things from the start of 2010 (and before)

hello again. it's been so long i don't really know where to begin. we had a truly lovely family christmas, i made this print for my mum as her secret santa.


and i received some really beautiful amazing handmade gifts myself, this hand turned bowl and rolling pin, and a lovely hand crafted wooden spoon. i felt incredibly lucky.


christmas was followed by a barrage of fancy dress parties, an 80's new year, a movie star 30th birthday, and another 1920's 30th birthday party. i decided to make a dress for the 1920's party, in hindsight it was a little ambitious but somehow i managed to pull it off, and the dress actually managed to stay together for the whole evening! i forgot to take a photograph which is a shame but i'm sure someone has out there.

we also had some snow which has now gone, and managed to get a little bit of sledging in, our chickens were very bemused by it all.









this is cattyfly (a cat who can fly) he landed on francisco's pillow one night causing much surprise and many tears. after a lengthy discussion, cattyfly has now become a friend and we have been awaiting another visit with much anticipation. i have copied franc's picture and made a toy one for his birthday. This is very organised for me as his birthday is not for a couple of months.

and lastly, check out the size of my parsnip. i dug up this beauty just before christmas. i cant wait to get the garden planted up this year.



ambika x

things we found on a windy day

it's been so windy here lately. the kind of days where you just want to cosy up in front of the fire, if we had one that is. but there's no chance of staying in with my two year old. i ask him everyday what he'd like to do and his answer is always the same, 'go for a walk.' so when we have no other plans, off we go.


we collected these autumn leaves the other day and made them into a rainbow when we got home. they are our new work of art on the living room wall until we get some pictures up there.


and we emptied out our pockets and made little acorn people inspired by this post at acorn pies that i found via simple kids.


the next day i kept my little one happy by making a house for them out of a cereal packet. i thought it would be fun for him to help papier mache it. so i got some magazine pages for us to rip up but he found them too hard to tear so got frustrated and screwed them up and threw them instead! then i made some flour and water glue which took me back to my childhood, and i showed him how to glue the paper onto the house. obviously he decided it would be much more fun to put his hands in the container and squish the glue around. that was fine, but i objected when he started to wipe it all over me and flick it around the room. i'm afraid the project was aborted swiftly and it ended in tears. oh dear! well, i finished it off myself while he was sleeping and after the house had dried he seemed to like playing with it. oh, and snapping off the heads of the acorn people and rolling them down the stairs. i think we'll just go for a walk tomorrow!




sarada x

a long trip home

its been just lovely going away and seeing my family for nearly 2 whole weeks. we spent some much needed time catching up, had a friends wedding to attend and then francisco and i went to see my sisters new abode in brighton for a few days. as always though i somehow managed to be having such a great time that my camera got forgotten, and i have very few pictures to remember our time by. this is my sister and i at the wedding.




katy who was getting married is my oldest friend. she looked amazing and it was so lovely that at the reception her little boy patrick insisted on dressing up as a bumble bee. katy made this really cute outfit for him.


on the subject of bees, our mum has been keeping honey bees for a few years now. she produces the most amazing honey. whenever fransisco sees a bee he thinks it might be one of granny's which is lost. it is just lovely when he calls her up asking if she is missing one of hers.


my sisters new flat in brighton is perfect. it is located centrally and is right near a great woodland area and a lovely park. i was really inspired by the way she has thriftily furnished and decorated her place. nearly everything has come from freecycle. very environmentally friendly. and the mix and match of throws and pictures and odd little pieces of furniture make the place look so homely and warm. since i have been back in the cottage i have been inspired to clean and home make like never before. i have new eyes.


ambika

back to the same old same new

we just spent a lovely relaxing week visiting the grandparents in suffolk. it was so nice to be able to catch up and share the days with stanley together. j's brother lives nearby with his two little people so it was nice to spend time with them too and of course stan loved his cousins. typically i forgot my camera, it was waiting on the table when we got home so i had to imagine the photographs i would have snapped for myself. i was very taken with the picture postcard image of a heather bush in a tin bucket on the wooden pale grey green garden table. such lovely colours. and a very pleasant spot to drink tea in the morning.


more pretty scenes awaited us on our return. our two tomato plants were full to bursting with fruit in various shades from green to red. apparently tomatoes should ideally be picked before the fruit turns red so that their juices stay sweet rather than watery. yesterday my little helper and i picked a bowlful to ripen in the kitchen. so tomato salads are on the menu for a few weeks. chopped up with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, a dash of olive oil and red wine vinegar. delicious. i think i counted 50 tomatoes in all!


the only other plant that has done well on our little balcony was the chilli, a modest handful of chillies that went straight into an omelette last night. hot but tasty.

it was a nice feeling when we arrived back to our (still new to us) home, looking at everything with fresh eyes and being appreciative of the larger space. even though we do miss the boat from time to time.


i also had time to finish a couple of gifts including one for a little girl who calls herself bubba. so sweet.


bondaweb, i really love it, recycled fabric and chain stitch. i had lots of fun making them.


now i just need to enjoy the declining days of sunshine before they disappear altogether. i'm just not quite ready to say hello to autumn. not just yet!

sarada

stopping and starting

i seem to be like the weather at the moment. sunny days full of energy and getting things done, playing well which makes happy faces all round, and more often rainy days when nothing seems to go to right and i barely have the inclination to get the mundane stuff done let alone any fun things for me or my little 'wild thing'. and whilst not doing any of this i have plenty of time it seems to fill my head with thoughts about my inadequacies and all those things i should be doing and all those things i really want to do but somehow just cant muster up the energy or time for.

yesterday was one of those do it all busy days. we made bread and with our blackberries that we picked on our walk the day before, jam and sorbet. i really recommend the sorbet it was delicious. i got the idea from the recipe here and substituted agave syrup for the sugar syrup.


and even better someone liked it a lot! the perfect new way to get fresh fruit into him!


then after all that i managed to finish off some projects i've been working on for a while. it was a rare productive and fun day but i would much prefer more stuff a little at a time more often. i am working on it.

one of the projects i finished is a doll that i made for stanley's friends birthday.

meet betty


i really enjoyed making her and although my pattern needs a bit of tweaking i was quite pleased with the results of my first doll.


she has lovely long legs and is made from recycled fabric.


here she is enjoying herself on the balcony. i was quite sad to see her go.

sarada

rainy days

every time i look out of the window the world is immersed in a grey wet foggy blanket. it has been very depressing and now that finally, after several weeks, the sun is shining, i have found the energy to write my post. sorry it has been so long coming. here are a few things we have been doing to pass the time....

we decorated eggs by wrapping them in cheap silks



then we made them into small parcels and boiled them for 10 minutes



let them cool in a sieve



and then unwrapped them



the dyes from the cheap silks ran into the egg shells making beautiful patterns. far too pretty to eat but i am not sure how long they'll last



our good friend lisa came to stay and together with the help of last weeks guardian magazine, some flour and water glue, and a little time, we produced this masterpiece. i'm not sure who enjoyed it more francisco or us



ambika