Roller Skates and Socks

Owning your own pair of roller skates = definition of happiness for my six year old

The girls enjoyed a bonus day off school yesterday, as the building was being used as a polling station.

It was cold and damp outside, so we ventured out in the car to the Emmaus Village Carlton for a few hours. If you're a local reader, and haven't been before - go! There's gorgeous home made cake to be eaten, not to mention pretty good looking cooked breakfasts, plus a whole load of second hand shopping possibilities.

I'd been meaning to take the girls there for ages, and yesterday seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Half term had seen a lot of clearing out - and I'd promised them they'd be able to buy something `new' in return for giving some of their old toys and books away. On that note, imagine my delight on Monday - whilst carrying out one of the final tasks on the list leftover from half term, which was to clear out the cupboard under the stairs (= definition of a joyless task), I discovered an unopened box of chocolates. Okay, three months out of date, and technically not actually mine, but who's bothered by details like that. Finders keepers, surely?

Unexpected chocolates = definition of happiness when doing boring household jobs

Anyhow, let me tell you, the Emmaus Village did not disappoint on the treasure finding front. They loved being given freedom to choose whatever they wanted from the toy room (let me add, given the 30p to £2 price range on all toys there, I felt in a generous mood), making sure they sampled everything first in order to make an informed decision.

The middle girl was first to spot the roller skates, and had one on by the time I'd turned round to look at her. Sadly for her, they were way to big. But, as often the case in families, one sibling's loss is another one's gain... the biggest girl wasted no time in getting them on. Oh, the joy! She has pointed out at length every lovely detail on her new roller skates. (And Grandma, if you're reading this, don't worry - we'll be buying some elbow and knee pads and a new helmet this weekend...)

Luckily, the middle girl noticed a pair of old fairy wings with a small hole in one - only, she is oblivious to their slightly tatty appearance, and has been happily flying everywhere in them ever since. It turns out that 30 pence buys you a lot of pleasure when you are four.

As is also the case for the littlest one, who is now carefully nurturing the pink hoody wearing cuddly pig she chose to bring home.

Later on, I got started on a new knitting project. Never one to settle for the easy option, I have decided to set myself the challenge of making a pair of socks. I'll be bold and say now that the intention is for them to fit me. But, well, that could well be a moving target, you understand. I'm not going to commit to saying when they might be finished - I beavered away on them for a decent part of the evening, and I just have a couple of inches of the top of a sock to show for it, so we'll have to see if my determination to show off a pair of hand made socks wins over the desire to have the quicker fix sewing provides me with. He, he. I know where my money is. If nothing else, it stopped me falling asleep in front of the TV. Oh dear - did I really say that?

How many needles am I expected to keep hold of...?!?!?!

On other news, a few people had been asking if I'd be doing any more Christmas Workshops, now the other two are full. Well, after talking to Lucie, who is the landlady of my lovely cosy local pub, I'm happy to tell you:

Thursday 13th December, 7 pm 

The Burnaby Arms (Stanley Street, Bedford)

Christmas Workshop

£10 - includes materials, plus a mince pie and glass of mulled wine

I can't wait!

And finally, look what has just popped into my inbox, just as I was typing this. Assuming the love affair with roller skates continues (and doesn't end up in A&E after one outing), this might just be the perfect thing to go in a certain little girl's stocking this Christmas. Made by Sarah and Alice - a great local children's clothing company, although I'm sure they can pop their designs in the post if anyone else fancies one...

Have a great weekend, everyone!