Martha's Marvellous Munchies

I have surprisingly few photos for this month, probably because Graham was busy several weekends (two Saturdays volunteering and one weekend away).  When he's not around I a) don't take the boys anywhere interesting and b) forget to take any photos even if we do go somewhere.  We've been getting back into the school routine with Toby, and Theo has started one morning of preschool a week.  It doesn't seem like five minutes since I was showing him off there as a new baby! Toby    - is now mostly cycling to school, and insists on wearing a high-vis vest to do so (not a bad thing!) This is racing, with me as pit crew - wanted to transform his room into an arts and crafts den, like in the TV program Dengineers (kind of like Changing Rooms for kids).  He got a new bed when Theo moved out of his cot, so we'd already moved some stuff around. Not quite as tidy as it started out! - can do some pretty good tricks on the trampoline. - made ...

On a recent trip to the library, I picked up a book called A Place of Refuge , by Tobias Jones.  It turned out to be the story of Windsor Hill Wood , the community that he and his wife set up in Somerset - a house in an abandoned quarry, surrounded by woods, welcoming to all who came.  They cleared trees, planted vegetables, raised pigs, carved wood.  Their three children grew used to having different people around the dinner table every night.  And over the first five years of failure and success, they gradually learned how to make a working community with hurting, messed-up people. It was fascinating on several different levels, but I realised it resonated with me for one particular reason.  It reminded me of Yeldall Manor . For many of my growing-up years, my dad worked at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.  At that time, staff were encouraged to "live in" with their families, in self-contained flats on site, and we did so for three years....

Sometimes it's fascinating to muse on how interconnected everything is.  Sometimes it's scary.  Sometimes a bit of both. I first found out about the South Korean shipping company Hanjin's bankruptcy through this story , about a British artist who is stuck on board one of the ships.  The focus was narrowed down to this single person, who was remarkable mostly because she wouldn't normally expect to be on a cargo ship at all.  And suddenly a business bankruptcy, which would normally be an obscure piece of news to her, is having a big impact on her life. The next story I read covered a captain and crew of a different Hanjin ship, moored off of Singapore.  Unlike the artist, they had every reason to be on board a cargo ship; they work there.  Except suddenly, they don't.  Now they're featuring on world news. Moving on from the people involved, the main concern for many companies is the cargo on board .  Shoppers in the USA probably don't spend ...

Really this post should be a Monthly Munch, but I feel like my last few posts have covered most of the things I'd usually put in my regular roundup.  So I thought I'd concentrate on the interesting part: the last three days of August. We set out on the Monday morning and drove west, to the area where England meets Wales and all the road signs suddenly become bilingual.  A couple of hours later, we arrived at the lush green beauty of Ty Mawr Country Park, just outside of Wrexham/Wrecsam (yes, many of the places have two names, or at least two spellings, too).  What a view to eat lunch by! That bridge arching across the valley is the Cefn viaduct, a close relative of the bridge we had really come to see.  The viaduct carries a train line across the River Dee; it's actually taller and a lot more visible than its cousin along the valley, the Pontcysyllte aqueduct.  The canal-carrying aqueduct is the famous one, but it hides itself well.  I thought we migh...

Once again another month is screeching into the distance before I have had a chance to gather my thoughts for anything more than family updates.  So this is just a quick one: six things I'm thankful for this month.  1. More writing contacts made, through volunteering to write about FIGMENT Derby - an art festival with the emphasis on participation.  I wrote a post about it for Love Derby , and another one for the Silk Mill Museum (not up yet but hopefully will be soon).  It was pretty interesting writing about the same event twice, for different audiences. Adding to the beanstalk at FIGMENT 2. Runner beans from the garden.  This is the closest I have come yet to my ambition to have a glut; we are not quite overwhelmed but certainly have a steady supply! 3. Theo growing up.  He is now basically out of nappies (not 100% potty trained but I'll spare you the details) and has graduated to a big bed.  Or at least he will do as soon as the ma...

As I mentioned in my last post, we visited Stowe Gardens for the second time this month.  We remembered that we'd taken a particular photo of Toby on our last visit, so we recreated it this time.  Scrolling through our photo archives, I discovered that the original was taken almost a year ago, in September 2015.  Are you ready for this? Last year This year Who stretched Toby?  I knew he was growing, of course - after all, I've been the one who had to keep buying him new school uniform - but it really brings it home to see the evidence like this. His first year at school has stretched him out in so many other ways, too.  He has made his first close friends and gained in lots of confidence.  It's been wonderful to see him stepping into new situations, asking new questions, and acquiring new skills.  He still gets scared when he has to try something for the first time, but he's gained the courage to admit it and do it anyway - and then he's s...

I was always of the opinion that a staycation was when you actually stayed at home, but made it more fun by doing day trips to the kind of places you'd go on holiday.  Recently the term seems to be used to mean staying in the UK rather than going abroad - which surely is just a regular vacation? Our recent summer holiday was a cross between the two, so we can count it as a semi-staycation at least.  My parents kindly hosted us for several days, which almost counts as staying at home, but with an exciting new array of day trips to do.  And the added bonus of two extra adults to wrangle small boys! Yes, they are lovely really. The first day out was to The Lookout , a science centre set amongst miles of trees.  We had been to the vast playground before - on a much colder day - but this time we went inside as well.  Unusually, we have no photographs; probably because we were having too much fun.  There are activities ranging from water play to logic puz...