Saturday, February 26, 2011

So this parenting thing...

...is hard.

Pippin is nearly 16 months now and getting more independent and person-like by the day. I feel like I've hit my stride (to a certain extent) as a stay at home mum over the last month or two (yes, it really took that long... oh my) and I am lucky that Pippin is a bit of a creature of habit and seems to like the routine we have settled into, which looks something like this:

7am up and breastfeed
8am breakfast for all
8.30-10.30ish morning activities usually around the house but sometimes we run errands
11am lunch (I usually eat this with Pip, I am often hungry by this stage and it gets it out of the way so I don't have to waste precious Pippin-nap time on eating)
11.45ish breastfeed
12noon - 3pm (ish) Pippin sleeps and I do stuff (like blog, clean, crochet, sew, drink tea)
3.30pm afternoon snack
3.30-5.30pm afternoon activities, trip to the park or library, playgroup etc
6pm dinner (usually for us all - again it gets it out of the way so I can actually sit down later in the evening)
6.30pm bathtime
7pm breastfeed and then into bed

It looks very organised like that doesn't it, of course I leave out the bits where - on days that I am very tired or not feeling terrific - I spend time staring at Pip wondering what the heck to do to entertain him, or wishing that I could just do what I feel like instead of having to cater to his needs first.

On the other hand I feel so incredibly lucky to be able to spend this time with him. So blessed.

Yet simultaneously embarrassed... shouldn't I have a 'real job' and be doing something of 'real value'?

Oh, hang on. I AM. I just re-read this awesome post at Apron Strings to remind myself.

Because I DO have to keep reminding myself. It is so easy for me to minimise the work that I am doing here, now,  every minute that I am taking care of Pippin. Friends ask me what I've been up to, or new acquaintances ask me what I do, and I usually say 'oh, just taking care of Pippin' or 'oh, I'm just a stay at home mum.'

What I do is not 'just'. It is not 'merely'. It is not 'less worthy'.

I am actually raising up a human being and that is infinitely valuable work. It is NOT work that should be farmed out to others as a matter of course (although that 'village' that people always say is needed 'to raise a child' would sure come in handy sometimes).

Wow, I feel so defensive about this. I didn't really realise until I started writing it all down...

Friday, February 25, 2011

Things I know

c\_/ there is nothing cuter than the sound of Pippin babbling and singing to himself

c\_/ unreliable uncommunicative tradespeople are THE WORST

c\_/ reliable, trustworthy tradespeople are THE BEST. Also, unfortunately, rare

c\_/ I cannot wait to get all the scaffolding out of our front and back yards and get a kitchen garden in

c\_/ being premenstrual means all I want to do is shop shop shop

c\_/ knitting is boring compared with crochet

What do you know this week? See what other people are sharing at Shae's place!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

My Creative Space


Two words: Crocheting. Obsessively.

I taught myself to crochet last week with a bit of help from my mum, some handy pictures from Crochet Australia, this granny square tutorial and this heart pattern from Meet Me at Mikes!


Love

Verity

(This is my first time playing at My Creative Space. For lots more creative inspiration, visit Kootoyoo!)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Friday, February 11, 2011

Turtle bars blankets and kittehs, oh my!

Well, here is the slab of turtle bar, baked and cooling, waiting to be sliced... We shared some with a friend after dinner. It was totally delicious, and the kind of rich that sneaks up on you and makes you feel rather queasy while at the same time contemplating a second piece.



 The blanket that I made... the fat quarters are from vintage sheets (thanks Fifties Housewives!) and the back is cut from a thrifted plain white double bed sheet.


The light in our bedroom is rather poor, so I had to use the flash on the camera... which did not disturb our determinedly-snoozing cat Beren, obviously.


Have a wonderful weekend -

Love

Verity

Thursday, February 10, 2011

A quiet 'good afternoon'

It has been a long time since I felt I could fit in any blog posts here... It's not like I haven't been doing stuff; I've been doing lots of things: baking, making, running around after Pippin (now 15 months old and more amazing by the day), reading, cleaning... Oh and drinking tea of course (I've just started back on my tea blog as well).

I want to try and keep posting here though. I think it will be good for me, but I'm not quite sure what things will look like or the kind of content I'll be putting up. So please bear with me if things are a bit muddled, chaotic and jump around a bit as I strive to find my blogging groove again. That said, part of the reason I stopped posting for so long was because I felt like my little blog here didn't really compare with any of the other homemaking/baking/daily life blogs I read and enjoy and I felt discouraged and sad. This was part of a kind of 'my whole life sucks and is pointless' existential crisis that I went through around Christmas time in particular, I think. Plus the pressure that I was putting on myself to take pretty pictures and post LOTS wasn't very helpful.

But! As I have come to realise, I'm not in the blogging business; I write my blogs for fun and I don't really care how many people read this blog (although if you do, and you enjoy it, I'm very glad!)... So there will probably be fewer posts in general, and probably fewer pictures as well. If this means that Nice Life With a Cup of Tea is not to your taste that's ok and I will not be offended if you move on.

In the meantime... Here's a few things that have been inspiring me lately:

c\_/ this poem posted on Roots of She, a site I am coming to love more and more I must say.

c\_/ these Turtle Bars (I had never heard of them before, had you??) sound SO DELICIOUS, I am making them tomorrow!

c\_/ I got a sewing machine for Christmas (from my lovely family!!) and I made a blanket like this one - I'll post some pics soon. It is making me so happy every time I see it on our bed.

Love

Verity