Checking In......

.......to say Hi!! How are you? Everything good?

My older girls have been back at school for 2 weeks now, Miss M had a sad start to term with the news that 2 of her best friends were moving that week. It was heartbreaking to watch her try to deal with the news, I dont think I have ever seen her cry so hard. But every day I think she is finding it easier to deal with. I think as adults we forget how huge things are to kids. As adults, we deal with friends moving by agreeing to stay in contact via phone, email, facebook etc. Also I guess with busy lives, we dont see friends as often as we'd like. But as a kid, your friends are there every day in school, its a constant in your life. Them moving away is a huge upheval in their life.

Miss K has dealt pretty well with the new term. She suffers from some health issues (not majorily serious but enough to impact her day to day life) & she is on the Autistic Spectrum, so change can be a tough thing for her. We've had some tears when trying to deal with homework, remembering teachers & what she needs to do. Plus a nasty bout of hayfever/virus has seen her having to use her inhaler.

Miss L-R starts back to school tommorrow. She'll be going in the mornings rather than the afternoons for this year, which should be easier on our schedule. Its going to be weird not having my little sidekick around, but she loves school so all is good.

That gives me just under 3 hours a day to myself, which is strange. But good. I need to lose some weight & get fitter, so with the time now available I have no excuses!! I also have some other things in the pipeline, but all will be revealed at a later date :-)

Autumn is in the air. I love Autumn, its my favourite season. I'm starting to think about what to plant for spring as some bulbs will need to be planted soon. I cant quite believe I like gardening. For years it was of absolutely no interest to me, & now, I love it!! Im definitely a novice though!! But I guess the best way to learn is to actually do it!!

I havent had much time online to visit blogs etc, but 3 that I have spent some time on lately have been very inspiring so I thought I'd share them with you. (Although they are so good, you probably already know them but I'll share anyway!)

The first is Posie Gets Cozy. Alicia's site is full of beautiful photos, quilts, embroidery, cooking, etc. Its one of those sites that just makes you want to slow down, curl up on the sofa in front of a fire, sew/embroider/crochet something pretty. She also sells some really cute embroidery kits for Christmas.

The second is Heart and Handmade which is full of beautiful photos of beautiful things. I always come away feeling very inspired to make something or somewhere very pretty!!

Finally visit Cherry Menlove. The lovely Cherry has a book coming out soon, which I really want to buy. Her site is full of interior loveliness (she has just moved into her forever home & is in the process of decorating), gardening knowhow, beautiful recipes, lovely crafts & beautiful photos of her lovely twins! Cherrys site was the inspiration for my new kitchen shelves which were made by lovely husband last week, then painted & decorated by moi. I'll use some of my new found time to myself this week to photograph & blog about them.

So thats it really for now. I've got washing & ironing on the schedule for today (Joy!!), plus the usual cooking & cleaning. Miss K has a party this afternoon, so I think some crafting time for me & the other two is in order. I might squeeze in some baking, Im thinking lemon cake maybe?

I hope that wherever you are, all is good with you. Have a Happy Sunday :-)

xxx