Half term

Small daughter went back to school today after her half-term holiday, and apart from the usual “my shoes don’t fit me” conversation just as we were about to get in the car which I generally ignore (school shoes always feel horrible after you’ve spent the week not wearing them!), seemed to be quite glad to be back.

We’ve had quite a busy week as we had planned to get small daughter’s bedroom decorated during the holidays.  We’d had a roof leak earlier in the year which involved re-plastering her ceiling and finally we had time to talk about what we were going to do with her room, her furniture and her mountains of stuff which had been all over the landing for longer than we would have liked.

Small daughter was very happy to choose paints and get started, but less impressed to discover that she had to go through all the stuff before it went back into her room because she just wasn’t keeping all of it.  I’m sure you know the kind of thing – little bits of paper with half-drawn pictures, the plastic cases of Kinder egg toys, Very Important Notes that she had written to friends and forgotten to give them … I have no problem with her keeping her stuff but she does need to know what she’s got and where it’s going to go.  The floordrobe is not an option!  Anyway, she really got stuck in and I was very proud of her as I carted off boxes of books and toys to the charity shop this morning – and she loves her “new” space!

Apart from the painting, I’ve tried not to do too much this week – it is supposed to be a rest, after all!  I got a couple of new books which I managed to sit down with a couple of times.  It wasn’t until I came to take the picture that I realised that they’ve both got a northern theme; I do have a bit of a thing for northern climes and we’re coming into the season where it’s perfectly acceptable to snuggle up in front of the fire with a book or knitting – or both!

With Hallowe’en coming up, we took a trip to a local farm to choose a couple of pumpkins for the girls to carve whilst big daughter was in charge on Saturday.   My husband was out and I was going to a workshop at Black Sheep Wools which I’ll be telling you about later this week, so the girls decided to keep themselves busy.

The farm was very organised, with huge tables set out full of pumpkins of varying sizes and prices so that you didn’t need to wade into the muddy field to choose one if you didn’t want to.  We had our wellies on all ready to do a bit of wading but small daughter spotted the pumpkins she wanted on the tables so we kept our feet dry.

We liked the pumpkins that had been carved at the farm.  You can get much more inventive with a pumpkin than with the swede that we used to hack into to make a lantern when I was little – and you don’t get that same smell of singed vegetable!

As it turned out, the farm shop sold presents for Mums as well …

I love Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls. They’re minty but not too minty (unlike Extra Strong Mints which I can never manage to finish), and they’re made in Wigan, not far from where I grew up so I have a soft spot for them!  Mike Harding, a northern singer/songwriter/comedian/ poet once wrote a song about them which you can listen to here And in case you’re wondering, it’s recommended that you drink the vodka as a shot, it is very mint ball-y, and it definitely leaves you all aglow! 🙂

Here are the girls’ pumpkins.  They had a lovely time whilst my husband and I were also having a lovely time doing our own thing – it’s good to do that sometimes, isn’t it?

If your school is on half-term this week, I hope you have a great week off – and if not, then I saw in the supermarket today that it’s only 55 sleeps till Christmas so the next holiday isn’t far off at all!

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7 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    Hi Christine
    Your post has brought back a few happy memories for me with the vodka. MY granddad always had a red tin of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls on the shelf behind his chair and used to sing a naughty little rhyme whenever we had one. My Nanna taught me to crochet and I can picture their parlour perfectly. Thank you. Christine

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Oh, that's lovely! It's always brilliant when something conjures up a special memory. I love Uncle Joe's, in fact, I think I've got one of those red tins somewhere … xx

  2. AnnieOBTextiles says:

    I love the way your steps co-ordinate with the wall colour! A very pretty colour too and well done youngest daughter for clearing the clutter. The girls lanterns are super, very creative – they must take after their mum.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I smiled at the colour of the steps too – I think we're probably in danger of purple overload if we're not careful! The girls did do a good job of their pumpkins, didn't they? Better than I would have, I must say! xx

  3. Angel Jem says:

    I'm still pondering the mint ball vodka… it might go well with coke? Or lemonade…. or a dash in prosecco to add that extra oomph!

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I don't know, you know – I drank it neat as a shot as recommended and it was pretty good like that! xx

  4. Amy at love made my home says:

    Gosh you had a busy half term, looks as though it was a good one though!

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