Believe it or not I started writing this post a month ago, however life has been really busy for us this month (in a good way!) and I never seemed to manage to finish it! However After a fall down the stairs this morning I have injured my back so have been ordered to rest. So the silver lining is that I finally have a reason to lie still and finish telling you all about Henry's birthday! 

 January was a HORRIBLE month and I was dreading 2013 if it was going to continue the way it started. However I have to say that things improved 100% in February! I have been really busy with Knitting tuition and am now teaching at least 3 days a week which is amazing! I cannot tell you how much I love my work and how being busy with it really does make me a happier person. I have lots lined up for March & April too so i'm really excited. 

However that's enough about me, I only mentioned work because I think it's the only thing that stopped me going a little bit crazy over the last few weeks because......The main event this month was that our lovely little boy turned 2! How did the last year pass so quickly?!?!? I've only just recovered from the fact that my baby turned 1 and now he's 2! Don't get me wrong i absolutely love the age Henry is now because he has become the funniest & cleverest little boy i know (He can count to 20 & knows the alphabet!) and really is my best little buddy, but i really am in shock at just how quickly time is passing by since he was born. It feels like somebody has pressed the fast forward button on our lives. Is it the same for everybody? Does life ever slow back down again? It never feels like I get enough time to savour each stage of his development before it has passed like a flash of lighting & we have moved on to something new! I'm hoping that the millions (and that's not an exaggeration!) of photos that we have taken since Henry was born means that we will be able to look back and remember everything clearly even it does feel like we are zooming through his childhood at 100 miles an hour!

Because both me & his Daddy feel that life gets too hectic & we don't all get enough quality time alone as a family we kept Henry's birthday to ourselves without any Grandparents, aunties or friends around. It was a lovely day filled with all of Henry's favourite things.  He had blueberry & banana Pancakes for breakfast, followed by presents which included more brio sets for his ever growing train collection and some new books. We then all set off for a train ride on the Avon Valley Steam Railway. It was the perfect treat for our train obsessed boy & he loved it! I highly recommend it to any local parents! 

We ended the day with dinner at Wagamamas (Henry's favourite) and then our little guy was exhausted so had an early night. I spent all of Saturday night baking in preparation for the little tea party we threw at home on Sunday for family so we were forgiven by the Grandparents for not inviting them over on the Saturday. I made a blueberry & mascarpone birthday cake, loads of cupcakes & a chocolate & cherry trifle (A nigella lawson recipe that was AMAZING!) plus the usual mountain of sandwiches.  The party was great fun & Henry really enjoyed himself, but it's amazing how small your house feels with 20 adults & children running around in it! It was Mummy & Daddy's turn to be exhausted on sunday as we had family & neighbours around from 11am-10pm! Henry sure knows how to throw a party! :)

It was a lovely weekend full of laughter and generally a much more relaxed affair than his first birthday that fell in the midst of renovating & moving our house. However I have to say I have been left a little shell shocked now because since turning 2 years old all of a sudden there is talk of  which play school & school we want him to go to and all of these decisions and events that seemed like forever away as I sat staring at my beautiful newborn baby 2 years ago now seems to be approaching at high speed. I enjoy and embrace every single day I spend with Henry but I guess what I'm trying to say is stop growing up so fast little boy, this Mama just isn't ready. 

So Christmas has been &  gone! Did you all have a lovely festive period? I hope so! I had a lovely Christmas! We saw lots of friends & family in the run up to the big day including a full christmas dinner and celebrations on Christmas Eve with Ken's family. We then enjoyed a quiet Christmas Day at home on Christmas Day (Ken especially who took the opportunity to stay in sweat pants all day!). My sister joined us on the day & we cooked our first Christmas dinner, and without wanting to sound like i'm boasting WE RULED!! It went without a hitch or a single argument which surprised everybody because my sister & I have never managed to share a kitchen without bickering in the past. We then traveled home to visit my Mum & Step-dad on boxing day for another round of food, drink & presents! 

I feel very lucky to have been able to spend Christmas in my own home with my family and also to have received such lovely & thoughtful gifts from my loved ones. My favourite surprise gift was this beautiful print from my sister. I have been admiring it for ages on Etsy so was so pleased to open it on Christmas Day! It's by Lucy Smith who often frequents the Tobacco Factory Market if you fancy a look at her work. I also received some lovely clothes from Ken all of which were items I've been lusting over for a while......It would seem that my not so subtle hints weren't wasted after all!

To be fair though I enjoy giving presents the most, I love seeing people's faces as they open the gifts I have bought or made for them. It really makes me happy. This Christmas was the first year that Henry has really understood that something exciting was happening so it was great to witness his wonder at all of the presents, food and lights! His young mind was on overdrive, and eventually we had to call a Christmas time out depriving him of sweets & presents after boxing day as he was HYPER!  I think it's fair to say that christmas is a big hit with this boy! He has also made his poor dad & I watch the Polar Express on infinite repeat throughout December so I think he'll be bereft when we cut him off!

Here's a few pictures from our Christmas:

So it's 2013 already! Wow! Where is the time going? I remember having a conversation 10 years ago with a university friend on New Years Eve laughing that in 10 years time we would be toasting 2013's new year as responsible 30 year olds drinking expensive wine instead of our homemade Cherry Cola cocktails using Lidl's finest & cheapest vodka & cherry brandy. Well some of that was true....I am indeed 30, but I didn't toast the new year with expensive wine, in fact since buying our house & having to tighten our purse strings as a result, most of our alcohol purchases are once again from my trusty Lidl! In fact here's the sad truth: If left to my own devices I wouldn't do anything for new year & would be in bed asleep at the stroke of midnight! I love Christmas & all of the festivities surrounding it, but by New Year I'm over it all to be honest & just want a bit of peace & quiet and to crack on with the new year ahead. Does that make me a grumpy old lady? Oh Well! New years day sees our decorations come down & the January spring clean begin and as much as i love seeing the tree go up & filling the house with festive cheer; i also really love how clean & spacious my home is once its all gone.

Last year I blogged my new years resolutions & I actually stuck to them! I have learnt to crochet at last, blogged more and  started to teach knitting & I also started to spend more time in the kitchen cooking for fun again. So I hope to have similar success this year if I once again make the resolutions more public. I love having little aims for myself as I really need something to push me to do more......I suffer under the black cloud of depression a lot thanks to my PCOS so very often need something else to focus on and push me forward and get me out of my slump. This years aims are:

1. To get out without Henry either for a run or a brisk walk with George my Collie 5 days a week. Neither myself or Poor George have got as much exercise as I would like recently thanks to 2012's never ending rain. However after a few long outing with just the 2 of us I remember how good it is for both of us! I love getting out & listening to my favourite music loudly in my headphones as we pound through the miles together, and George gets more of my time and attention in the process so it's a win/win really. So far so good with this one.....even if i have gotten soaked!

2. To get more organised with my admin. I hate paperwork, but avoiding it only makes it worse so i'm going to get on top of this in 2013.

3. To keep my washing pile small......at times when I've been exceptionally busy or exceptionally low my washing pile has managed to take over my bedroom & become a mountain. The bigger it is, the worse i feel.....it's a catch 22! So I've started the year with a washing marathon & plan to keep it down. Wish me luck as this is the one I'm most likely to fail in!

4. To learn to let the small things go so I can focus more on the big things. I get stressed about the silliest things sometimes and i really need to stop. It can be exhausting and they really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. I need to take a step back and learn when to walk away from something.

5. Have more family outings. Lack of funds often leave us doing the same things at home or in our local park most weekends. However we have been planning to go swimming as a family for ages, and take a weekend trip to M Shed together. After our family outing in December to the theatre we realised how much Ken misses out on so plan to do more as a trio at the weekends.

6. To blog through the good & the bad. I only blog when I'm happy.....so when I'm low i go quiet. Not because I don't want to write about it, but because at that time i don't have any motivation to do anything really. However I'm hoping that by aiming for 2 posts a week regardless I'll force myself to keep going & not get stuck in such a rut of "nothingness".

So there you have it.....bye bye 2012 (you were full of real highs & extreme lows)  & hello 2013! So far this year is going well & I am full of optimism which can only be a good thing.

I hope you're all having a great 2013 & I look forward to speaking to you more in the coming year!

I'm so excited for Christmas!! It's our first Christmas as a little family in our new home without our own parents doing the cooking etc for us so I'm getting really into all of the preparations this year! However as per usual I started a long list of hand knitted presents in October......then left them untouched for a few months while i was busy looking after a poorly toddler or trying to keep up with my long list of things to do so I am now in full on speed knitting mode trying to finish all of the homemade presents in time! It will be worth it though as there is nothing quite like giving presents that have been lovingly made especially for the recipient......also although I am usually quite cash poor, thanks to years of yarn, material & button hoarding I am craft supply rich so I may as well turn them into beautiful presents!

I've been wanting to share pictures of all of the lovely things I'm making lately, but i an't until after they have been given or else it will spoil the surprise.....I'll be doing a post Christmas post of all of my homemade projects & I'd love to hear what everybody else made too.

I cannot remember the last Christmas Eve that I did not spend manically knitting trying to finish the last of my homemade gifts, last year it was a giant knitted blanket that i made for my sister. But Christmas Eve to me is sitting in the warm with a glass of mulled wine watching the Polar Express knitting presents! Every year I swear I'll finish everything sooner, but really I do love that feeling of finishing & wrapping the last of those special gifts!

Tonight is the last knit club of 2012 at Cordial & Grace (seriously where did this year go?!) and I am really looking forward to a toddler free evening of knitting & chatting. I love my son to pieces but his idea of helping Mama knit is to run off with my ball of yarn shouting "Mummy's Ball!!".......not really very helpful at all! I think that quite a few of my students from my last Christmas knits class are coming too so it will be lovely to see them all knitting Christmas decorations! 

If you are interesting in learning to knit something for Christmas it's not too late, I have places left for my class at the Making Things Pop-Up shop in Cabot's Circus On  19th December 6.30-9pm. It's £16.50 for the evening and this includes all materials and patterns and a glass of mulled wine or spiced berry cordial and yummy gingerbread (i don't like minced pies!).  Also because I'm super excited about this class & Christmas in general I'm giving away a present to everybody who signs up to the class to make the evening extra special!! For more details about the class see here.  Also I don't know if you all know but I now offer Knitting lesson Gift vouchers.....so if you know somebody who wants to learn this would be a great Christmas gift. Vouchers are available from £10 and can be emailed so are a great last minute alternative to commercial vouchers. I think it's lovely to take a break from buying generic commercial presents for everybody and to either go handmade or shop local with independent makers You can get some lovely gifts from as little as £5 & they are so much nicer than something mass produced. If you are short of inspiration I would really recommend a trip to Making Things club when you're shopping In Cabots for some fantastic locally made beauties!

So it's been over a month since i last posted anything.........this wasn't a planned break, it just happened. I became a bit internet weary & all of a sudden I just stopped going online. It was a mixture of being too busy to sit down & document life & being a bit disillusioned with the internet why I choose to document my life here.

This is quite unusual for me, I have used twitter & reading other people's blogs as a support tool & general escapism ever since Henry was newborn. I would sit for hours at a time either breastfeeding or holding a sleeping baby after a feed with only my iPhone for company. I made some amazing 'real life' friends this way & I don't think I would have been able to start up & continue with The Homemade Mama without the support I found online. However Lately there has been quite a shift in the way social media is being used and I'm not sure if I like it all that much to be honest. I log in to twitter, my google reader account & the dreaded facebook only to be bombarded with 80% sponsored posts & advertising.

I don't read blogs or go online to win free things in giveaways or to see what people are buying so that in some aspirational bid for their lifestyle I can run out & buy the same products. I go online so that at the end of a long tiring day (which a lot of them are) I can either be comforted by the fact that I am not alone in feeling exhausted/stressed/overwhelmed/or just plain grumpy or I can find something inspirational and beautiful to read about that reminds me that life is pretty amazing and full of lovely things despite my lack of sleep/money/time/motivation (delete as appropriate). It gets a bit much when you log in to find that 20 people are all trying to sell you the same cleaning product & trying to make cleaning sound fun..............Newsflash: This is not the 1950s so you are not going to sell me anything by trying to convince me that housework is going to be great fun. While i'm hiding from the mountain of washing that needs doing by looking on the internet instead, I don't want to be constantly told how amazing washing powder is & how much you all adore doing your washing! 

 Don't get me wrong there are still amazing blogs & accounts out there which I still love to read, many of whom accept advertisers but there doesn't seem to be the balance that there used to be & somedays I really have to search to find content that isn't trying to sell me something. But the problem isn't with the blogs & accounts I follow, it is totally with me. I mean don't you find that once you've noticed something irritating you begin to focus on it? Instead of just skimming over the bits I didn't want to read I would scoff & get annoyed about it. Looking back it's quite ridiculous getting annoyed about something that nobody is forcing me to read & that I can easily ignore.......but alas the brain of a tired & stressed Mama does have the tendency to get irritated about the minor or even irrational things in life (well this tired mama does anyway!).

Anyway that's enough of my moaning, what I'm trying to say is that I started to question why I go online and why I wanted to blog. I don't care about where I am in any blogging popularity charts or how many followers I have. In fact I don't even know if anybody reads anything I post. So I stopped, and at first it felt quite liberating taking a step back from all things internet based, but then I started to miss it. I missed checking in to see what people were up to, I missed the support that I get from people when I have a tough day, but mostly i missed documenting all of the good things that happen in my life. I found that when I stopped writing about the good days & the things that made me happy they somehow started to blend in with the bad days more & I just wasn't as positive about things. It's silly isn't it, but it's true that taking the time to write about & share all the fun things we do as a family or the new things that Henry has done, or new craft projects that i have made seems to make me appreciate those moments more before they get lost in every day life.

So I'm back......even though i'm not sure anybody noticed I was gone in the first place. :) I love autumn, and there have been so many instances where I have wanted to share a recipe I loved, or pictures of a beautiful walk in the Autumn Sun or even a project that I have finished ready for my stash of homemade Christmas presents.......yes that's right I'm starting to get quite excited about christmas! So I think I need somewhere to share it all so that Ken doesn't get too annoyed with me just babbling on about it so much to him!  

Despite all of my moaning here are a few of the blogs that I have really enjoyed lately:

Little Green Shed: Lou always has something beautiful & Inspirational to show you that will brighten up your day. 

Nimble Fingers & Steady eyebrows: I adore this blog filled with letters between friends Annie & Laura! It's full of the simple things in life. 

Sew Scrumptious: A must read for fabric addicts & crafty Mamas. Louise also organises a charity effort which makes pillowcase dresses for charity. Over 2,000 dresses have been distributed to girls living in Malawi, Kenya, India, Ghana and Uganda. You can get involved if you like what you read as she is running a free pillowcase dress sewing workshop at Cordial & Grace. 


Bristol Craft: Bethany's blog is 100% inspiration & full of beautiful pictures.  

I'm only saying what you're thinking: A diamond of honesty in a sea of 'perfect Mummy' blogs.

And to finish off here are a few pictures of recently enjoyed things from the last month:

Tuesday night was the first Knit Club at Cordial & Grace. It was a lovely evening filled with amazing tea, cake & conversation as well as lots of knitting! Having been to quite a few knitting & Craft clubs in my time I can honestly say that Cordial & Grace is such a perfect setting! Unlike other events that have been held in reserved areas of  dimly lit bars, pubs & Cafes we had the whole place to ourselves as the lovely Maria opened in the evening especially for us! We didn't have to shout over the loud music & conversation of other patrons and there was lots of light so we could see what we were doing!

Last friday afternoon me, Ken, Henry, My sister Natasha & our dog George all piled into the car & headed out of Bristol down to Aberdovey in West Wales for the weekend. We had such a blissful time,  spending our days on the beach & our evenings eating delicious food & drinking red wine! What more could you want really? It really was just what we needed as it gave us all a chance to recharge our batteries after a busy 6 months. It was a super cheap weekend as the cottage we stayed in belongs to the family of a friend who was kind enough to let is rent it with 'mates rates' and with the exception of one meal out at a pub we bought all of our own food & drink. So we could all relax in the knowledge that we weren't breaking the bank too!

This was Henry's first holiday to the beach and he is now totally in love with the seaside! He woke up on Saturday morning & just stared out of the big windows saying "WOW!" for at least an hour. As a city boy I think the view of the ocean blew his mind! He loved running in the sand, paddling in the sea, & building sandcastles....so much so that every time we made him leave the beach he protested quite loudly! He saw jellyfish (sadly dead) and dragonflies mating on the beach too.....not that he'll remember that! Our Collie dog George also had the time of his life......he literally thinks Aberdovey is heaven! Both of them are missing the beach already.....in fact Henry keeps saying "Bye bye sea! Bye bye boats!" and looking quite sad about it. Poor little soul is suffering from post holiday blues already!

This was the last weekend of my twenties and it really was the perfect way to celebrate! The weather was lovely apart from one rainy morning and It was the first time in months that we have had to totally relax without that nagging feeling that you should really be getting on with that never ending list of things to do! I even got a chance to sit & just knit for fun which is rare nowadays as i have so much on. I feel so much better after our break, it was only 3 nights away, but it did the trick! It really was an amazing weekend & I cannot wait to go back.....mainly so that I can eat more of the local 'salted peanut' flavour ice cream! It's heavenly! 
  

Please excuse the mass of pictures! I loved so many of them that I have gone a bit overboard!

We got home late on Monday night......actually later than expected after we had to stop at the top of a mountain (literally in the clouds) after the altitude & mountain roads made Henry car sick Everywhere! We cleaned him up & the rest of the back seat up & then all got back in the car.....which then wouldn't start! We were on top of a mountain with no phone signal & not another living soul in sight!! After a brief panic that sounded a bit like "Oh Shit....we're stuck here! We're going to die!!" we bump started the car and were safely on our way home again. It really was like a scene from a dodgy sitcom! Just thinking about it now makes me laugh!

So there you have it, the last weekend of my twenties......Fingers crossed I', lucky enough to have many more like it in my thirties! 

xx

I'm so excited to share this with you all as it has been in the pipeline for sometime now, but we have only just finished planning everything! Lots of people have been asking me about starting evening lessons in the Clifton area & also the possibility of a Knitting club.......well now I'm doing both of them! I've teamed up with the lovely Maria at Cordial & Grace to start lessons and a Knit Club there. She's in charge of the cakes & coffee & I'm in charge of the knitting.....a match made in heaven right?! All of the details are below in the flyers, but I hope to see you all there soon!

Last week was a bit of a week of celebrations  for us as Henry turned 18 months on Thursday (yes that's right my baby is now 1 1/2 years old!!). How did that happen? Where has the last 6 months gone? We had lunch with his Auntie Tash & then went shopping in our local charity shops. We had lots of luck with Henry getting loads of amazing 'new to him' toys for less than £5! We then all went the balloon fiesta in the evening which as I've already said was amazing!  

The celebrations continued on  Friday as it was Ken's last day in his old job! He has a much better job now based in Bath, which is great news for our family. I haven't wanted to say anything just in case I jinxed things, but he starts tomorrow so it seems ok to say something now. The weather was so beautiful that we decided to celebrate in our local park with my Sister & some friends. Armed with wine, pizza & fresh fruit we set off for an evening of relaxing & balloon spotting evening.

The park was full of other people who had the same idea as us so there was a really lovely atmosphere there, with children & family pets running around playing while adults relaxed in the evening sun taking in the views. Evenings like these are great for the soul! It really is amazing how a bit of sunshine can make all of the difference!

Our dog George thought that we had thrown him a party & invited loads of other people & dogs especially for him to play with! He was in heaven! Our friend's Anna & Alan have a little puppy called Munch who is a new friend of Georges! He is super cute & very hyper! Henry also had a great time running around playing late in to the evening........in fact that both had such a good time that they slept in until gone 9am the next day! It was just a shame that I had to get up early to teach a knitting lesson so I didn't get a lie in too! Typical!

The rest of the weekend has been pretty chilled out & tonight feels a bit like the last day of the summer holidays in our house as we get everything ready for Ken's first day in his new job. I even gave him a haircut today so he'll look smart. It's quite exciting though!

I hope you have all had a lovely weekend too & have managed to enjoy the sunshine! ☀♥

Here are a million pictures of Friday night....there's sunshine, hot air balloons, &  a puppy what more could you want?! :)

Tonight I got to cuddle a newborn & It was lovely! There really is nothing like holding a tiny baby to melt your heart. I have been feeling rotten all day with a kidney infection & was in a bit of a grump if i'm honest. However after a cuddle I was feeling too full of baby love to be grumpy!  We have been waiting to meet our friend's Sue & Rich's newborn daughter Abigail for weeks, but the influx of viruses that we have had, has kept us at bay until now. She is 4 weeks old now, and was born at over 9lbs so is quite a bit bigger than Henry was at that age, but to me she seemed tiny! I don't remember Henry ever being that small.......her tiny fingers & toes are heart meltingly small & her newborn cries a blast from the past that remind me just how much & how fast Henry has changed. 

While I was knitting my gift for her I was convinced that they were tiny & then I worried that by the time we actually got the chance to see them she would have out grown them all. I was however worrying for nothing, she was still too tiny for them & will have room to grow! I cannot believe how quickly I have forgotten what the newborn stage is like & just how small babies are!

I still think of Henry as my baby, but in reality he's a boy now & a fully fledged toddler! He was in quite a wilful mood after spending the day with his Nanna as he forgets what it is like to be told 'no' and not to get his own way all of the time. However he was soon distracted by his new found love of Jake, Sue's 7 year old son. Henry was captivated by Jake & seemed in awe of everything this bigger boy did, following him everywhere! It was so cute to watch, especially when Jake had Henry laughing his head off playing a very excited game of peekaboo! So despite me having a bit of a 'moment' realising just how big Henry is now, I love watching him interact & play with other children now. It would be nice if he would stop having a strop every time he is told no though, but 

Here's the little gift set I knitted Abigail. I'm not a big 'pink' fan normally, but I know that after 2 boys Sue is loving everything girlie so I indulged in a bit of 'raspberry ripple' coloured yarn for once. If you fancy learning to knit something similar you can book into my Beginner's baby knits classes running over the next 2 saturdays 10-1 £12 per lesson. Contact me if you are interested!

I have been teaching knitting today at Love Food Festival, just giving people a sample of what you can learn in my lessons and spreading the knitting love. It has been a fantastic day, and after a slow start in the morning (I was tucked in the corner & people couldn't see me) I moved my table out slightly and was then rushed of my feet chatting to people & teaching them to knit! Being next to the puppet show meant that it got pretty packed in our little corner when a show was on, but it was great to see all the children having such a great time! It also meant that lots of children wanted to try knitting which i think is great & i really enjoyed sitting down with them to make their 

As usual all of the other stall holders were a pleasure to work with & there was a fantastic friendly atmosphere that made the day extra fun for me. I'm tired but extremely happy after meeting so many lovely new people & catching up briefly with some of my friends too!

I hope to meet lots of the people I was knitting with again soon as so many of you seemed to really enjoy it! Remember the discount code I told you all for 20% off if you book a class with me. 

Later in the day Henry & his dad came down to visit me which was great as I don't feel like I've spent much time with them this week. Henry thought it was great as he got to see his first puppet show & try lots of free samples &  chocolate  ice cream from Ivor Stafford who makes delicious ice-cream here in Bristol. He was a very lucky boy who after all of the excitement went to bed before 7pm which is two hours earlier than usual! 

All in all it was a fantastic day of knitting, lovely food and great people......what more could you want really?