Me & Mine - A Family Portrait Project 2015 - March

This post is late. Sorry! Life really has been so busy that there doesn't seem to be any time for anything else. No sewing, no blogging, not much reading (apart from twitter and facebook!) but a lot of washing, drying, folding and putting away. Yawn. And lots of cooking...and cleaning up. Now that Ferne has started eating solids there is a lot of mess, every meal time!

I've still been taking lots of photographs though, and I've been using Instagram more recently as it's so immediate. I'm still loving the Me & Mine project and even with just three photos so far it's already lovely to look back at them.

March for us was unfortunately marred with illness - first Wiss, then me, then F, then me, me again F again, and the husband has just recovered too. I can't stand being ill, it's such a waste of time. But fingers crossed we all stay well now; the days are getting sunnier and the evenings lighter, and that makes the world of difference to how I feel.

This month's photo was taken at a wonderful house we have rented often and where we always have such great times. This was Ferne's first visit to Holly Frindle and I'm sure it won't be her last. Wiss enjoyed showing her around, and she especially liked the mule at the end of the garden. There is a huge oak tree in the middle and I thought it would be the perfect location for our family portrait, nestled in amongst the emerging daffodils. Spring has sprung finally!

This is part of a big linky so don't forget to check out the other bloggers' photos this month. Click on the logo to be taken there, and see you soon!

The Kindness of Strangers

I'm currently on maternity leave and I've been off work for 8 months now. (Gulp!) Life on maternity leave is very different to real life, and I'm not just talking about looking after the baby. It took me a while to find my new pace, to realise that my main priority is just to be there for the baby, and for my son too! Things don't get done like they used to, I can't guarantee that I will be able to complete even a 5 minute task, and I've come to terms with the fact that my time is rarely my own. But something else happens too...

I have been completely blown away by the interactions I have daily with various people: strangers, neighbours, fellow parents, passers-by, teachers, shop assistants. Just going about your business during the day means that you meet all these people that you probably wouldn't if you are rushing, commuting and working. We now say hello and chat to at least 4 people passing us on our school run every day. I now know my neighbours and we have started doing little favours for each other. One lady I met who walks her dogs past our house had even bought a gift for the new baby and Wiss too. So kind, and so wonderful. I believe these interactions really make a difference to your quality of life, and help you feel part of a community (even in big old South London!)

I've also joined a few local mums groups on Facebook which have been great for finding out about what's on, recycling unwanted baby stuff, getting advice etc etc. There seem to be groups for every location, so you can search to see if there's one for your neighbourhood.

Last week I had an extra special glow of happiness caused by the kindness of strangers. I had signed up to a springtime swap project organised by the lovely Lucy from Capture with Lucy. You can see the details here, but basically we were all matched up with a partner and told a little bit about what they liked. Then we all made up a surprise gift box to be posted to our partner for the Spring Equinox. The gifts were not to be extravagant but thoughtful.

I was told that my partner liked tea, vintage crafts, pastel colours and was a fussy eater! I also started following her on Instagram so I could find out some more, and discovered she has a very special dog in her life! I wanted to make some things for her and also included some little supplies and treats. As she said she was a fussy eater I decided not to try and guess what she would like to eat, and decided to make some homemade dog treats for Rosie instead. I made a boxy pouch for my partner using some vintage curtain fabric (because who doesn't need a boxy pouch in their life?!)

Here's what I sent...

Of course it is better to give than to receive (ahem!) but this is what I had in my surprise box...

It really was so lovely getting presents that were completely unexpected, and it was clear that so much thought and care had gone into my box. Lucy will be organising another gift swap for the Summer so if you'd like to get involved and get that glow too then click here. 

Make a Solar Eclipse Viewer...in just 5 minutes!

This Friday there will be the most spectacular solar eclipse seen since 1999! In London there will only be a partial eclipse but even so, it's going to be pretty special. According to the experts the moon will start to pass in front of the sun at 8.25am and it will all be over around 10.40am, with peak coverage at 9.31am.

Now, if like me, you are a little late getting your stuff sorted, don't worry. Yes, solar eclipse glasses are like gold dust but it's not too late to make your own solar eclipse viewer. This version of a pinhole camera takes literally 5 minutes to make so you'll be able to make one today and look super organised come Friday morning! They are easy enough for the kids to make too, although I'd get an adult with a steady hand to make the pin hole. This needs to be small and perfectly round.

This amazing event allows for so many discussions about planets, orbit paths, the effect of the sun on earth (it's going to go dark during the day! wow) as well as how pinhole cameras/projectors/our eyes work! (See here if this is where your interest goes.)

I hope all of that makes sense and you're all able to make a viewer for yourselves. Of course, if you have longer than 5 minutes then you can jazz up the outside of your box. Or the kids can! Just remember, the box needs to be as dark as possible so covering or painting the outside is a good idea but makes sure you don't make any extra holes or damage your pinhole.

Let's hope the weather is kind and the clouds stay away on Friday morning at least!

We Like to Read - World Book Day!

This Friday 5 March is World Book Day, where children all over the world dress up as a character from a book. I love this day! Personally, I love seeing kids in fancy dress going about everyday business as if it's totally normal to be dressed as a fireman, or a frog. So seeing loads of children heading off to school in the morning in fancy dress is guaranteed to bring a smile to my face. Look out for them where you are!

Wiss has discovered the joy of Roald Dahl over the last year or so; we've read him some of the books and he has lots of them on cd which he listens to over and over. A particular favourite is Fantastic Mr Fox (and the Wes Anderson animated film is fantastic too!) It seems I'm not organised enough to make the costume AND blog about it so here is last years' costume in detail: last year Wiss wanted to be Fantastic Mr Fox, and who was I was I to argue?!

The great thing about costumes is they can be as fancy, or not, as you wish. They only really have to last that day (although it's always nice if they can be worn again.) If like me, you leave things to the last minute then make friends with fabrics like fleece and felt. These can simply be cut and don't need hemming as they do not fray. Jersey doesn't fray either and the raw edge can be...well, edgy!

Our Fantastic Mr Fox costume was made using some soft striped orange jersey, white and black fleece, two old t-shirts (one white, one orange) and a tie from the charity shop. To make the hat I used this great tutorial from Camelot Fabrics - it is clear and easy to follow but you can alter it where you like. I thought buttons may be good as the eyes?

The raglan t-shirt was made using my favourite pattern from Sewing for Boys. I've made so many of these for Wiss that they come together super quickly, but even for a beginner it is an easy pattern to follow. I cut up my two old t-shirts to make usable pieces of fabric. The white t-shirt was the body and the orange t-shirt fabric was used for the arms and the neck binding. I added black claws to the top cuff edge of each sleeve before sewing them together. The tie was a lucky find and all I did was shorten it to fit Wiss and hand sew an old hair clip to the back so that it could clip on to the t-shirt. No fiddly ties for my little man!

The trousers are models own - orange cords from H&M - as are the brown boots - Clarks.

And the finishing touch was the tail. I used the same tutorial from Camelot Fabrics but made it removable with a loop to go around the belt which fastened with a strip of velcro. Poor Mr Fox has his beautiful tail shot off by the nasty farmers, so true to the story Wiss could take his tail off when he wanted. (It also made it easier to sit down at pre-school!)

So there you have it - one Fantastic Mr Fox costume!

This year's costume is also from a Roald Dahl book so look out for it on my Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds on Friday (I had better get it finished soon!) I would LOVE to see your kids costumes for World Book Day - leave a comment below if you've blogged about it, or tweet me @thisiswiss. And if you're still making them like me, good luck!


You may also like to read these posts from the archive:

World Book Day Week - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
World Book Day 2013 - Room on the Broom

Me & Mine - A Family Portrait Project 2015 - February

Has it really been a month already? February is a short month but it really has felt like it has flown by! I am still struggling to find some time for me, and blogging but hopefully that will happen soon.....I hope!

What have we been up to this month? We enjoyed Valentine's Day, Pancake Day, our 13 year anniversary of meeting, as well as half term and all the activities that involved. Wiss went to Pirate School at the South Bank 'Imagine' Festival, and got up on stage with Cowboy Max, learnt some circus skills at Clown School in Suffolk, and got brave at the waterpark going down the flumes by himself! I had a nasty bout of mastitis which knocked me for six and wiped me out for a week. The husband went to the NME awards show and tried not to feel too old! And February was a big month for little Ferne: she started on solid foods, learnt to roll from back to front, celebrated her 6 month 'birthday' and started babbling and saying 'mama'!

This month's photo was taken by a photographer at the water park - we were not expecting to have our picture taken but it's a great memento of a very fun, and noisy day on the last day of half term.

I am loving being part of this family portrait project - not only are there such great pictures being shared each month by all the other participants, but it is making me find the photo opportunities that I wouldn't have done before. It's wonderful to see all 4 of us together!

Do pop over and have a look at the rest of this month's Me & Mine portraits...

#SilentSunday

Me and Mine - A Family Portrait Project 2015 - January

I'm back! Tax return done for another year, and now finally I feel like I am able to begin this year properly. I know that it's already a month in but I still have eleven more to plan, fill, enjoy and record!

I have lots planned for the blog, for This is Wiss and for our family life but more of those in the next post. One thing I do want to do is take more pictures of the four of us together, and that's where this fantastic project comes in. Me & Mine is a family portrait project that has been running for a couple of years already, organised by Lucy from Dear Beautiful. The idea is simple: one family portrait each month. By the end of the year each participant will have a wonderful and very personal record of their family - you'll be able to see how you all change, how you grow, what was happening that month. There are loads of people signed up for 2015 and you don't even need to be a blogger as there's a facebook page now too. All the details can be found here.

So here is mine for January...

This month we have been celebrating Lewis's 5th birthday, hoping that it snows (and settles) in London (it didn't), watching Ferne learn to roll over, wrapping up warm to go to the park, listening to Lewis read, making Ferne laugh and eating lots of yummy family meals together.