my pencil case

Can we talk about one of the things that makes me happiest again? We are going to need to break this down into manageable chunks, the master topic is stationery and the joy and delight that the right pen / pencil / notebook can bring but today, I'm going to spend half an hour just thinking about my pencil case.

Here it is...

I love this pencil case. It was bought for me in the very early days of our relationship by HWMBO(I) when the poor chap was under the impression that I was the sort of girl who would get good use out of an expensive and luxurious makeup bag. The  man took the news well that I would rather use it as a pencil case and in the intervening 12 years I have received a steady supply of beautiful stationery related gifts (7th wedding anniversary in a few weeks - modern American, for 7 years you get wool and / or stationery - frankly my perfect anniversary).

There is something lovely about sitting in a lecture or a meeting and knowing that in this little bag there are lovely things that make me feel grown up and in control. The 15 minutes or so I spent a couple of weeks ago making sure the fountain pens were full of ink (from a bottle, lovely, lovely) and there was lead in the propelling pencils were so happy! 

I've just undertaken a brief audit of contents, and, oddly (proving my potential as a blogger) taken a photo of them...

The lip balm, the chewing gum, the pebble and the crochet hook should really live somewhere else but I love that they are in there. The clear plastic thing attaches papers together using metal clips and is reassuringly mechanical. Two different propelling pencils (different size leads - there are times when this matters!) - the same company used to do a mustard yellow one for wider leads that my Grandad used to use to do the cross word, haven't seen one in years.

For those paying close attention, the silver and grey pen fourth in from the right is a retractable fountain pen - a marvellous thing that I didn't even know existed until the fateful evening I discovered it (after a glass of wine) on ebay and it was purchased (who knew it would cost so much to ship something from Japan!)

My only disappointment is the highlighter - not that it doesn't do exactly what it says it will do, but I object to its florescence. Non-fluorescent highlighter pens are terribly hard to come by and Bob has voiced objection to my 'borrowing' all of his yellow felt tips.

Any way - there you go, my pencil case happiness. Just popping upstairs to change my clothes because in the half an hour I've been doing this the weather has changed beyond all recognition - but that's a topic for another post.

can we talk about tea

I really love tea, nearly as much as these people here. Dr Who has it absolutely right, it is a life giving elixir with the power to heal... A cup of good strong builders tea.

You can say many things with a cup of tea, I love you, I'm sorry, Cheer Up, We are all in this together. It even mended the Tardis once. And a tea pot that is pretty and doesn't drip. Bliss.

I am brought a cup of tea in bed every morning... if I were HWMBO(I) I would have given up on this years ago, as I inevitably take one mouthful , fall asleep again and leave it to go cold but he persists because he knows I like it and I think its romantic. (he was once going away for work in the very early hours and he left me a thermos of tea by the bed - this is the singularly most romantic gesture ever made)

Sitting down with a friend knowing that you are going to sit and chat for long enough for it to be worth making a pot of tea, putting milk in a jug and getting the tea cosy out....

I don't hold with a fruit flavoured tea, not really. Always a bit of a let down - they smell good but don't really deliver. I'm the same with coffee. I'd like to like it, it feels grown up and sophisticated but it's just not for me.

Taking the time to make someone a cup of tea the way they like it shows you care (I like mine the colour of a digestive biscuit, strong with a bit of milk in case anyone was wondering). There are many variables to take into account - strength, milk, sugar or not, what kind of cup do they like... I know that a friendship is developing well when I no longer need to ask how they like their tea, I just know.

There is pleasure in a solitary cup of tea too - stopping, boiling the kettle, tea bag in cup, burning your fingers taking the tea bag out so you don't dirty a tea spoon (but then drip it all over the side so you have to get a cloth out - its a false economy really) and then the first sip when its still just a bit too hot. The occasions when you take the second sip at just the right temperature - its cooled down a bit but its still properly hot.... lovely.

things that make me happy...

A quick note... Bob, and He Who Must be Obeyed appear to be sticking as names... So from here on in the boy will be Bob and the husband will be HWMBO(I) - the I in brackets standing for ironic...

There is a thing doing the rounds of blog land currently, bloggers taking time out and reflecting on the things that make them happy. This is a good and sensible thing to do - to proactively reflect and look for happiness. It's much too easy to be miserable, and usually the things that make you happy are pretty straightforward.

So, five things that have recently made me happy...

1. Walking the dogs yesterday morning with Bob and HWMBO(I) on a local estate yesterday (think small country house and lake rather than council), managing to be out of the house for a couple of hours when it didn't rain, and remembering to take travel mugs of tea with us so we could drink them while we walked.

2. The smell of the wild garlic while we were walking. It made us want garlic mushrooms for lunch, so we foraged for ingredients (in the local supermarket) and ate EXACTLY what we wanted. I love it when that happens.

3. The two brightly coloured owls were gifts for my parents - a birthday present for Dad and one for Mum so she didn't feel left out... They were delivered yesterday, along with Bob who is staying with them for a few days. When I pointed it out to mum that her owl had a pebble in it, so it would stand up on its own, and this therefore meant she must not throw it in case she broke something, she reminded me that she rarely throws her toys... (Dad pointed out that in the previous post referring to the owls I'd spelt denile wrong..., I will ignore this for the purposes of KEEPING THE BLOG REAL)

4. Visiting new friends of my parents on their beef farm. Their 2 small boys  (3 and 4) were delightful and it was lovely to be reminded of the happy chaos that comes with small children. Bob was shown around the farm, including where the bull semen is kept in nitrogen... Confident that there would be questions,  HWMBO(I) and I promptly left him with his grandparents. I happily have no photo of bull semen to share.

5. Putting a border on a baby blanket for an upcoming niece or nephew... Don't know what variety we are getting yet as 'its' parents want to be surprised. I accept this but it makes the whole blanket production difficult. GENDER NEUTRAL IS REALLY HARD.

There you go, half an hour of focussing on good things...

he has a secret identity, and his name is Bob...

It plays on your mind blogging. I can't say that I have done things differently as a result of having the blog (for all of the 24 hours) - however artistically you take the photo, cleaning the house and sitting in my pyjamas writing an assignment are not going to be blog worthy, but the blog has come up in conversation a few times and I have been reading others blogs from a slightly changed perspective.

I showed my 10 year old what I'd written and he said I was funny - that pleased me. I probably only have a couple of years before I move from the funny category to embarrassing so I should make the most of it. We then had a conversation about what I should call him on the blog to preserve his privacy (although given that most of the people reading this will be friends visiting from facebook this seems slightly unnecessary). I was thinking along the lines of Tiny Tin Bird (from Little Tin Bird) or Little Man (from Attic 24) but he has very clearly told me that he wishes to be known as Bob. My husband has told me that he wishes to be known as he who must be obeyed. This is, however a blog, and not fiction so we will have to give this further thought.

The blog statistics are interesting. My first post had 56 views. These can't all of been me (a good few were, but not all of them). There were 10 views from America,1 from Spain and 1 from France. Who are these people - if you come back, let me know. I have vowed to stop being a lurker on blogs - if I read something and I like it I should let the writer know - as my niece would say, its only doing your manners.

I am a vicarious reader of blogs - of all sorts - I've not bought a magazine for years; quilting, crochet, food, life and I'm not clear what this bog will add to the masses that are already out there - I can't imagine that I'll add a great deal to the considered opinions, recipes, tutorials, beautiful photos of fulfilled family life. Maybe it will just be a place for my musings...

first things first...

Isn't it hard writing a blog - how much do I say, do I use my real name, what have I got to say that is interesting enough to blog about - and what if the things that I think are fascinating, others just think are dull?  I like being at home with my family, crochet, fabric, quilts, cake, gin and a rubbish film where the plot is so transparent that I can fall asleep for half of it, wake up and have no problem working out what is going on. I also like working full time and having a career - my two different likes are very much in conflict with each other and the job is necessary to have the nice home that I like spending time in... I am not alone in this vicious circle - is it a circle or a cycle? Either way it goes round and round...
Having a blog, to my mind is a step up from facebook and twitter - now, facebook I can waste hours on and banter back and forth in a way I would never do in real life and twitter - well aside from a short lived and slightly inappropriate crush following of the Canadian astronaut with the camera (I'm so fickle, passionately following him one day... can't remember his name now) I don't really get it - there just aren't enough letters.
I wonder if having a blog changes how you live your life - do you do more with your time because you have people who are interested - I am sure there are people in the blog-o-sphere- I think that's what it's called, who make their lunch 30% for their own enjoyment and 70% (quick check to make sure it adds up to 100) because the photo will look good on the blog. My crumpets and peanut butter were delicious (smooth, if anyone is interested) but they are not going to win any style awards.
So, any way this is my blog - I wonder if it will become anything - I've always fancied the idea of one - now I just have to work out what to do with it...
I leave you while I ponder this with three owls I like to call procrastination, denile and distraction...