So, this is Christmas...

The question is: what is your favourite Christmas 'pop' tune?  They're unavoidable, and this year don't seem to have been as annoying as in previous years.  John & Yoko's 'Happy Christmas, War is Over' always makes me stop and think.  What is so depressing is that it's not, and there's no straightforward answer to any of it....  doom and gloom then?

Well, I try to think not.

I hear hope in Greg Mortensen's 'Three Cups of Tea' and the follow up 'Stones into Schools', which I've nearly finished reading. I've really enjoyed this unusual and inspirational American man's account of building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Why is he doing it?  long story, but essentially so that women are educated and eventually through the education of women the fanaticism of the Taliban will (hopefully, Inshallah) be a thing of the past.  It's positively uplifting, and reads like a boys own adventure story - whatever the American version of that may be.  I recommend them to you!

I like Chris Rea's 'Driving Home for Christmas', Paul McCartney's number, can't think of the particular title at the moment, Mariah Carey's 'All I want for Christmas', and quite a few other seasonal songs all by artists whom I wouldn't normally give the time of day to.  Yes, I'm going soft (in my dotage).

But how to avoid the commercial pressure to consume, as in buy buy buy, and eat eat eat at this time of year?  Everyone seems to be trying very hard to have a good time, because that's what we're supposed to do.  And you can't spoil it for the kids, can you?  No, I'm becoming more cynical in my maturing years.  If the 'average' amount of money that people (adults?) spend on their children's presents is £150-£200 then the whole thing seems to me to obscenely out of proportion.  We spent £50 each child, £75 tops.  It seems to me that setting a child's expectations that high, so young, is storing a lot of trouble for the future, and in these bleak economic times surely the spending should be cut back.  Everything in moderation... in balance, as in nature.

On a lighter note, I got an early Christmas present from Oxfordshire County Council.  The interview I went to on 21st December for Library Services Assistant, part-time, was a success, and I've been offered the job.  :) Pending references etc I'm starting on 10th January.  So the new year will start brighter than the old one finished, and good riddance to it too!

Snowy Owl - Beale Park Oct 2011.

It's late, time for bed.  Happy blogging Christmas to one and all.  Keep it sweet, Kat

Where does the time go?

Too much to do, too little time.  Is this just because I'm 46?

Our children spend time so wrecklessly (sp?), or so it seems.  Lost in a daze, glaze, staring into space or the screen of the computer or DVD player, or, better, reading a book.

Was it ever thus?  Do all parents lament the time their children waste? so that the knowledge of hindsight, the 'mis-spent' youth, the years already past, looking back - this all makes time more precious...

Or is it jealousy? the children having all their time ahead of them and not behind them.  And why should 'we' parents judge how our children spend their time?  How else will they learn the value of it?  If we parents dictate how they spend every minute of every day (by ferrying them from one after school activity to the next...) how will they learn ... to dream, to day-dream, to think independently, wildly, imaginatively, bored or other.

Boredom.  How it haunts the modern life - there's always something on offer to fill the void.  I say fulfil the void!  Vive la void!  Live the void.

When I was growing up, admittedly it's a long time ago, we didn't 'play' with our parents. They were too busy - at work, with the housework, gardening, taking a nap. They didn't expect to entertain us children. They fed us, clothed us, took us to school and church, showed us how to do things if we asked, but they didn't expect to pander to our whims.  We played, and fought, with our siblings and friends, and kept ourselves entertained between home time after school and tea-time at home, during the long summer holidays, and when winter came we plopped down in front of the TV.

We don't have a TV in our house.  Life is much simpler without it.  Less pressured.  More time to read, and get on with jobs.  More time to spend ... how we want to.  No pressure to watch.  We participate, actively, in life.  We don't watch passively on the sidelines.  Richer?  You decide.

Faringdon Folly, 5th December.  Taken on morning dog walk - after drop the kids at school I do the folly run with the dally, Roly. Takes about 20 minutes, so must be around 1 mile - routine, and yet every day something different to look at.  The clouds and early morning mist rising over the Vale, or the brilliant blue sky of the frosty morning.  However you look at it, it's a wonderful way to start the day.

Thanks for reading, keep it sweet!  Kat

Reindeer...

Right ho, I promised Reindeer, so here they are. Well, there's a story first, so bear with me.

When Tom was 9 months old we had Christmas in the USA.  We'd been invited to go skiing/boarding with friends in San Francisco - it's not far from Lake Tahoe, a legendary resort which we'd be unlikely to visit otherwise.  I had my reservations about the long-haul with 9mth old, but against my better judgement, and with sleep deprivation depriving me of my sanity, I said yes. So we flew out with a 6yr old Phoebe, 9mth old Tom, car seat, buggy and all related paraphenalia, on 23rd December.

Long story short, we met our friends, did the San Francisco thing, saw the Golden Gate Bridge, went up and down the hills, saw the shops and suffered horrible jet lag throughout so Christmas wasn't really the great success it should have been.  Packed up on Boxing Day and drove to Tahoe for the snow and the skiing. That's another story, so we'll leave it for now.

Whilst staying at our friend's house I noticed their charming Reindeer decorations which I demonstrate for you below.  The lovely thing is, if you have children, you make them, display them, store them, and then next year retrieve them and compare the size they were to the new ones you make. Then repeat, until the kids are 13 or no longer tolerate the family tradition this becomes....

Purchase the following from your local art shop, scrapbooking shop, The Works, stationers or wherever:

• 2 or 3 sheets of different coloured brown/taupe/grey/Reindeer coloured stiff paper or thin card.
• 1 sheet of same quality in white and red
• PVA/art/paper Glue
• Woggly eyes (optional)

Method

Choose which colour brown for the Reindeer face and which colour brown for the Reindeer antlers.

Draw around the child's hands on one colour and foot on another colour.  Cut out the shapes.  Assemble hand shapes at toe end of the foot shape and glue in place to resemble antlers.

Cut out 2 eyes in white, and 1 nose in red.

Glue in place.  Add woogglly eyes if desired or draw 'black pupil' on freehand.  Hey presto!  Reindeer.

Sorry about the pictures, they uploaded out of sequence, but I'm sure you're clever enough to work out the correct order.  No prizes only the self-satisfaction of knowing that you know....

I've not got time tonight to put into correct order as didn't have much sleep last night, poorly Tom, I spent the night on the floor in his room :(

Bless him, he'd rallied this afternoon, after some more Calpol and he wanted to do his Reindeer, and then set to embellishing it with stickers. There's no hard or fast rule to this, the joy of it is how different the Reindeer are and watching how the children approach the task each year...

Thanks for reading.  Now, go and make some Reindeer yourselves and start your own traditions!  Thanks to Mary in SF for her inspiration......  Kat.

Tip of the Day

Don't try to repair a broken/split seal on your freezer door with super glue.

Also, don't clean your freezer door seal over-vigourously (is that a word??). Just don't clean it.  Full stop.

Let's just say I'm making more snow than the Alps at the moment.  When I contacted the manufacturer I was told the model is now obsolete so there are no spares for repair.  IT NEVER USED TO BE LIKE THIS. Built in obsolescence.  Obscene is what I call it.  And very annoying.  Fumes (as in 'grrrrrrrr' to express annoyance, not gaseous emissions..).  Will be putting up 'wanted' post on Freecycle. Yee-ah for Freecycle, I've used it lots - both ways, offering things we don't need and finding things for free.  What a brilliant concept.

Early night tonight, school run tomorrow and lots to do.  More later!  Thanks for reading, keep it sweet.  Kat

Phew!

Tom's friend's party was today.  Hurray!  Indeed, R2-D2 went down a storm, and the other littlies were attired as Darth, Chewy, Luke, Queen Amidala, and others I didn't recognise as they feature in the first three films ie the second three (or modern!) films.  Anyhoo, much fun was had and much fighting with light sabres until the birthday boy had been injured once too often and it ended in tears.  As all good parties must.

Phoebe, in attendance as Princess Leia looked the part, especially with her giving the bouncy castle a go... ! Party food, birthday cake, birthday song, party bags and it was over all too soon (for some).  The question is what do we do with the R2-D2 outfit now the party's over?

And to show the fruits of my labour......

I didn't intend 'Artoo' to have the sabre.  But it was 'Dickensian' evening in town last night, and I was shedding money left, right and centre.  There were real reindeer, stalls and tombola/raffle/fund raising a plenty, shops open and yes, chestnuts roasting on an open fire...  I kid you not.  I wouldn't normally indulge the boy, I mean, £5 for a crummy plastic made in china/taiwan wherever light-stick that'll break as soon as you get it home and the man took the wrapping of as I handed him my money, so I've no consumer rights or come back...  To paraphrase my Dad's joke '£5 is £5'... and that's one of his better jokes!

I digress.  I didn't intend 'Artoo' to have the sabre, but they were on sale and I knew Tom would enjoy running around at the party, uncostumed (he made his entrance, and then took it off), wielding the thing, as that's what little boys do.  And he did.

So that was that.  Had a good yomp up the Ridgeway towards the Monument after the party.  Roly (our 8 yr old dalmation) hadn't had his walk this morning, so that had to be done.  Phoebe stayed home to do her homework, so just me and Tom, Simon out with his brother...  Wellies on (good planning, you can't go wrong keeping you wellies in the back of the car) and it was muddy, Tom seemed to have a tractor beam drawing him to the next patch.  Sagely I didn't let him near the tractor width puddles on the lower road, but you've no control over a mad dalmation who went in up to his knees and swiftly came out again.

Still, here's a piccy of where we were this afternoon,

yes, it is on a slope.  Look at the clouds, they're horizontal....  I took the shot from waist height, am quite pleased with the result.

Soooooo.  Will try to get the reindeer done for next time.  What is she on about???  Well, you'll have to wait and see, but it's the time of the year to update the reindeer collection and if you've not got one I'll put instructions up showing you how next time.   Thanks for reading  :)  Kat