dottyspots

I’ve moved here: http://www.ninnynoodlenoo.com/blog

Because the new Ninny Noodle Noo site is finally LIVE - YAY!

Ted said, pottering towards me.

“Ooooh, what have you got?”

 He dropped it into my hand.

“A dead spider.  Thank you *so* much.”

(Yuck! Yuck!  Yuck!)

Demand “Toast!” very loudly.  There’s no need to say please.

Continue to shout “Toast!” whilst jumping up and down throughout the time the toast is actually toasting.

 Then demand “Ham!”  Of course you don’t actually want ‘ham’, you want ‘jam’, but switching constanants in a word keeps things interesting.

 Take the toast and whilst your mother’s back is turned, grab the whisk attachment to the mixer (with sharp pointy end that should be in the drawer, but handily is in the pot on the side) and repeatedly stab  your toast. 

Once your mother has hastily removed the implement, grab the full box pencil sharpener and wait just long enough for your mother to have a fraction of a second to divert the contents away from your toast.

Enjoy eating your toast whilst watching your mother cleaning up the pencil shavings whilst trying to stop you feeding any crusts to the dog (who is also having an attempt at eating the pencil shavings too).

It wasn’t even quite 10am…

It’s been a bit of a difficult time and so far the New Year hasn’t made a huge difference, so I’ve not been online as much as I might otherwise have been.  A big headache over R and Erk’s schooling and it’s looking increasingly likely that Erk atleast will be flexi-schooled (I’d prefer to have him at home f/t but am having a few run-ins with dh over this).  It’s not making for good sleeping and part of it really is a farce (but a stressful farce).  I seem to be coming down with repeated colds and general bleurghness which I’m putting down to the effect of stress on my usually strong immune system.

R. has had various test results done which have thankfully come back negative, but the hospital are keeping an eye on him and he has to go back again for a further check-up.

Ted turned 2 (where does the time go?)

 Sometimes it’s all too much and you have to sneeze:

He had a lovely doll for his birthday made by Berrie at Moonchild Studios.

I’ve been fairly busy on the knitting front:

I really do not ever want to knit another bloody bobble!

There are a few doll’s clothes as well as I’ve had some orders in from Mrs Moo, but really high on the list for something to make next is a jumper for me based on Pandora (in one of the Rowan mags - but a bit longer and more shaped to me) and some stockings, but both require buying more yarn which is something I can’t stretch to atm as I’m putting every little bit of spare money into the new website for Ninny Noodle Noo.

At present there’s a SALE on at Ninny Noodle Noo to clear the decks for the new site, which should be ready at the end of April.  I’m really excited by this as I’ve found a team of fabulous US-based designers who have done work that it really in keeping for my vision for Ninny Noodle Noo.  I’ve also got a blog planned for the business where I will be listing some great resources for families, plus plugging various makers I find on t’Net

Yay!  I finally finished the skull-patterned yoked jumper!

It was knitted as I went along and I’m rather pleased with the fact that I’ve managed to knit a jumper without a pattern, save for a glance at arm-shaping.  The neck is cast-off a little tight, so something to bear in mind for the next time, but I think it looks lovely on him (my photography skills aren’t the best though

It’s knitted in Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora.  I’m not a fan of the yarn, but I’m on a ‘use what you have’ drive atm.  It’s lovely and soft though!

I’m also making a two month pledge to Wardrobe Refashion.

I, dottyspots, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of “new” manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2  months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that my thriftyness brings!

Signed dottyspots

This is a late post on this because well, it’s not been too bright on the family front recently.  However, back to last month.  A HE visit to a local living history museum was organised for a date in December.  Me, being a little lacking in attention, was confused and thought it was the date in November, so we bundled off to Sheffield and found that no-one was there.  Being a making lemonade from lemons kinda gal I decided to walk towards Hunters Bar (solely on the strength of it being mentioned in an Artic Monkeys track because I know very little about Sheffield).

We found Endcliffe Park:

Then the Botanical Gardens:

Moo really liked the cactis so I had to take a lot of photos as she pointed out which ones to photograph.

(You don’t say… *rolls eyes*)

The squirrels were by the waterfall and are clearly used to regular feeding as they were trying to sit on our feet, much to the delight of Moo and Ted!

Then it was on into town and the obligatory panpipe-playing musician.

A drink (Ted insisted on dipping his biscuit in my mocha).

And on to the Millenium Galleries:

A gyroscope water feature.

It was soon time to go home so we walked past the children’s favourite fountain, stream and whirlpool by the University.

I was going to take a photo of the water wall by the train station, but the camera ran out of batteries just as we got there!

So not a bad day considering it was originally a mistake that found us in Sheffield that day!

I know it’s taken a while to blog - but we had a fabulous time!  Here are some pics that I took (before my camera ran out of batteries - the flash was working overtime):

 

Because I can…

A pic of Ted and wooden train set.

We made some lemon fairy cakes today and the children decorated them.

Even Ted had a go.

There was more Hama beading action:

Having a camera again is great!

I’ve been putting together a folder of more links to get up onto the blog, so they should be appearing presently, plus a round up of some of the great websites I’ve stumbled across over the past couple of months.

Ok, her birthday was a couple of days ago, but it’s been a busy few days!

How time flies by.

It was Stagecoach in the morning (she’s a shepherd in the production they’re working towards - she absolutely loves going and asks every day whether it’s the day to go) and then back home for some present unwrapping.

She had some Hama beads and some threading beads bought from Beadmerrily and they’ve been played with frequently, every day since.

My mum bought her a Barbie - she was thrilled! (Yes it’s a bit of a snotty picture).

She had a great day and keeps checking that she’s still 4 ;0)

I know I haven’t done anything like ‘meaningful’ blogging for quite some time.  Life is hectic, as ever and there’s so much I want to say, but lack the headspace to get it down ‘on screen’.

Tuesday I phoned the GP to chase up the Xrays that it turned out STILL hadn’t been sent.  Unsurprisingly, was patience wore past thin and I phoned up the Xray Dept. muttering words like ‘incompetent’ and ’sue if there’s anything serious’, etc.  Strangely enough, the Xrays were faxed through within minutes of the phonecall.

Grrrrrr, gnash teeth.

R. and I are going to see the GP early next week to discuss them, so fingers crossed, but I’m trying to go by the saying ’no news is good news’.

R. turned 13 a few days ago, which is a bit of a strange thing, to have a child who is ‘officially’ a teenager (and NO, it doesn’t make me feel old ;0)  Unfortunately the postal strikes hit his birthday cards quite hard and they still haven’t all arrived, but he’s quite philosophical about it.  Sarah made a tasty birthday cake and R. had a nice day playing Zoo Tycoon with Dino, which was a good, considering it’s not a good idea for Dino to go haring around the garden atm.  Now just a couple of weeks break until the next birthday (Mrs Moo who will be 4), so fingers crossed no postal strikes there as I don’t think she’d be quite as understanding.

Ted has recovered well and is off the inhaler he was given.  He’s now saying recognisable attempts at words (well, recognisable to us anyway), typically, “A B-!” repeated very loudly, over and over, whilst smacking me on the back of the head.  This is to announce that he can see a bus and as this means we’re out and about, he’s normally in a sling on my back (hence the back-of-head-smacking). We also get a good attempt at, “Here y’are.”  I know people talk about the ‘terrible twos’ but really I think they’re terrific!

My new camera has arrived.  It’s fantastic that I can take photos again.  I haven’t had much of a chance to play with it (due to the general busy-ness), but did take some promised pics of recently finished knitting.

So, firstly, a pic of the lovely bag sent to me by my Secret Pal (yes she did send other lovely stuff, but the bag was my particular favourite and has been much admired).

It’s already had plenty of use, carrying two projects around (the yoked jumper for Ted and a lace scarf I’m knitting).

A few things I’ve finished recently:

A felted bowl from NDS yarn.  Yes it needs a bit of a shave and yes that is yarn in it already.

A green balaclava, again from NDS yarn.  I love balaclavas - they’re so practical for young children, however, they’re really hard to find in the shops so knitting your own is a must!

A beaded purple rose made from, you guessed it, NDS yarn again :0)

We could go on like this for some time, as I’ve made quite a few rose corsages recently.  This one, however, is made from Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk and the leaf is made of ’something’ I can’t quite remember (but is soooo soft!)

 Last Friday I went to my local MPs surgery for the first time.  I’m a constituent of Caroline Flint and in light of recent discussions on various HE lists about Labours proposal to change available benefits for Lone Parents when their child reaches 12 (and further proposal to drop this age to 7 - more details on Freedom for Children to Grow website), it was a must that I should attend and put forward my opinions on this, as it would, IMHO, have a huge impact on the wellbeing of children of lone parents (and that’s even before we get on to home-educating lone parents).

I’m afraid it wasn’t the most positive of meetings.  Ms Flint is very proud of her position and very proud of her career.  She sees her work as ’setting a good example’ and that paid employment is central to improving self-esteem (etc.)  However, she doesn’t appear to understand, at all, the choice to stay-at-home and care for one’s children, and certainly does not think that it applies to single parents (it’s fine for those of us with partners to support us financially).

I pointed out that it is stay-at-home parents who listen to children read in schools, who make up the numbers for adult to child ratios on school trips, who run the local toddler groups, etc.  She pointed out that it was Labour who were instrumental in getting classroom assistants paid - totally missing the point I was trying to make.

I could go on about how I also pointed out the lack of suitable childcare, how for some 12 year olds it would be potentially inappropriate for them to come home to an empty house (and that’s before getting on to the NSPCC’s views on this), that parenting is a hard job with very long hours for anyone, let alone single parents who are for the most part, entirely responsble for their children - so they don’t come home to someone who can maybe do the washing up, or read to the children to give them a break.  When do they get the time to listen to their children read, practice their spellings, etc.?

And that’s even before I got on to HE.  Oh yes, I mentioned HE and the body language visibly changed.  One lady (accompanying Ms Flint) rolled her eyes.  The assumption is that HE-ing single parents are a tiny minority and the implication was that they aren’t worth worrying about because of this.

I’ve typed in brief, because tbh, typing it all out would just get me even more worked up than I am already :0(