Most of this weeks seems to have been spent in outdoor pursuits. I’m so grateful that the weather has allowed us this break from the rain and overcast and miserable, as our evenings are rapidly descending towards winter again. It’s been remarkably good for my soul, and no matter where life takes us, I hope that these days spent in the woodlands and forests will be somehow engrained on the spirits of my daughters too.
230/366 – Alice Holt Forest
This is such a lovely forest area, if it was closer to our home, we’d go all the time. There’s a number of walks, and on one particular trail, there are ‘playgrounds’ all along it for the littlies. In this picture you can see parts of the big tower structure that children can climb, but there’s also a big owl, a giant’s chair and maze, a ‘spider web’ and more. It’s lovely.
I had some very good news this day about a new source of income for us, and the relief washed over me so much, I teared up. I was so happy. Many things have been in the ‘balance’ for us, and this news determined our immediate future. You can’t see it, but I’m awash with relief here.
231/366 – Inlaws lunch
One of those things that have been ‘in the balance’ for us, have been whether or not we’d be moving far, far away. In light of that possibility, my inlaws have been spending more time with us than usual. It’s such a blessing for us that they’ve been able to watch the girls grow and be part of it.
233/366 – Bug Watch
There’s a canal that runs not far from our house, and last autumn we spent a lot of time walking that canal. We discovered on one particularly long walk, the Basingstoke Canal Visitor Centre, and have really enjoyed going back there a few times since. This particular day they had a summer holiday programme, one of the elements of which was pond dipping – dipping a bowl into the pond, coming up with pond life and examining and identifying it. We discovered a really gorgeous ‘secret garden’ area with blackberries and just had a really peaceful public holiday morning.
234/366 – Sitting Up and Moving On
Oh, my heart. My baby girl is sitting up all on her own. She’s been so much ‘slower’ to these things than Ameli was, but I always felt that Ameli ‘robbed’ me of a babyhood – she started crawling at 4 months and never looked back! I’m so chuffed with Aviya though. What a gorgeous child. I’m so blessed.
Ameli, meanwhile is off to pick blackberries. She’s still not looking back.
235/366 – Friends and Parties
We’re incredibly fortunate to have an amazing friendship group, so when I can do something for someone I try to. One of our little ones had a birthday, and her mama is going through a hard time, so we had a small and last minute surprise party for them. She’s such a sweet child, it was a pleasure having them in our home.
Thanks for joining us for our week in pictures
