Tidying Up

I feel quite out of control at the moment. Too many little trivial things to do but not really enough enthusiasm and momentum to do them. Then that feeling when the Smalls are in bed that nothing has been achieved and yet more things have been added to the To Do list. Not much has been crossed off this week. Until now. I am doing a tidy up post. Then, tick, the blog will be firmly crossed off the list.

Do you remember me telling you about an amazing felt brooch I bought on our recent trip to Saltburn? It was in this gallery. Well, here it is. Do you like it? What do you think? I'm sorry the photo if it is a bit on the wonk but I was too lazy to take it off my jacket. I love the teeny tiny beads but mostly, the serious faces of the heartsease. How simple, but so so effective.

I have been meaning to update you on the progress of our wheat. Look! It has ears. It is tall and straight and I think that we will actually be able to have a mini-harvest later this summer. Will we have enough to make a bread roll? I truly don't know but I cannot wait to see.

Doesn't it look gorgeous? This field of green is in the middle of Cambridge! Yes. I am the little red hen.

Now, earlier this week we had a rather Big Milestone. Small Bean lost his first tooth. He was giving them a good old brush before bedtime and came rushing and screaming into me and Smaller Bean shouting 'My tooth has come out, my tooth has come out!' and all the while spraying blood around. (Well, not that much but there was quite a bit of the red stuff in his mouth.) We left his bedroom window open (for easy access) and that Tooth Fairy left him a golden coin. He is one of the last in his class to loose a tooth so the excitement has been great.

Big Bean is quite sad about this, our boy will never look quite the same again. Small Bean is just waiting for the next wobbler to drop.

On the subject of Small Bean, this is one of his favourite pastimes. I have wanted to blog about the wonders of Playmobil for a while. His bedroom floor is littered with tiny important pieces of plastic which are all part of a complicated game. Where else can Romans, deep-sea divers, pharoahs, knights and pirates all rub shoulders and Small spends HOURS on his floor totally immersed in this world. It is such a fabulous toy. Great for imagination, history, communication, social skills and fine motor development. It should be in everyones house and in every KS1 classroom in the country. Godson Bean loves it and his Big Brother who is 10 still plays with it regularly. I hope that Small's wonderful imagination lasts for a long time to come.

So. I'm off. Need to find a pencil to cross this blog off the list and then plug in the iron. Sadly I won't be joining the crusader and flying off on a rescue mission. Have a good weekend.

A good week

This week has been a very pleasing one in the Bean house. There has been LOTS of this going on. Every morning I tell myself that there must be No More, but the delicious brown stuff just stares at me until I have to stop it by popping it into my mouth. Thankfully there is not too much left...

We have been outside much of the week. On Tuesday we went to Milton Country Park, just north of Cambridge, with some friends. The Beans ran and ran with their friends (Famous Five or what?) and of course we had an Easter Egg Hunt half way round. When we got home the Beans and friends spent the WHOLE afternoon in the garden in their swimmers, in and out of the sprinkler. Now, the weather has been gorg, but I think they were being a bit optimistic.

There has been a teensy bit of this going on this week, mostly in the evenings with a cold glass of white by my side. I have lots of ideas going round in my head but not enough time to get them done- a bit frustrating but nothing is too bad when the sun shines.

Yesterday all the Beans went off to Eversden Wood. This is a really magical place just up the hill from Wimpole. As we drove past Wimpole Farm and Hall, it was heaving with people, all having a great time, but just too crammed in togther for our liking. A minute up the hill and we parked and walked. For two whole hours we did not see another soul. There was a lot of mud, a muntjac deer and a hare. In a couple of weeks the whole wood is going to be covered in bluebells- I can't wait to go back and have a look.

Big Bean had packed the hammocks so after he had strung them up, they had a quiet(?) half hour swinging and talking...

...while I lay in the sun in a not so muddy bit looking up at the bright little hawthorn leaves and listening to a woodpecker. That is when the small Beans were not in hysterical laughter.
There has been increasing amounts of this too. Until I finished it. I feel a bit bereft without a good book on the go and this has been FANTASTIC. I found it a trifle slow to get going, quite disturbing in parts but gripping for the most part. I think I need a change of scene before I start the next installment, The Girl Who Played With Fire, but I am really keen to read it. Any recommendations would be gratefully received.
At home we have spent hours in the garden; eating, gardening, playing, reading and sitting. A little while ago we planted some wheat. This is how it's doing so far. Eventually we are hoping to be a bit Little Red Hennish and make a bread roll from the grain. Am I being totally unrealistic??? I have no idea how much wheat we'll need to make a bun. Mrs Mouse had quite a bit of seed from the last row and Smaller Bean is not very helpful in the garden so we may not even get this amount growing to its potential. I will keep you posted on how it's doing.

And suddenly everything is looking frothy and green and gorgeous. The pear blossom is about to burst and I have pots and pots of tulips all so near to opening. Grape hyacinths are my favourite and my best- I can't get enough of them in my garden. Or tulips. Or euphorbia. Or foxgloves. Or wheat...