Snowy toes, Sewing for Children, Natural beauty, and Birthdays

Why yes, those are my toes - and yes, I painted those snowmen myself! No, I don't really have the time to be wasting on things like this - but I did it anyway. And it's lovely to see blogger allowing me to load a picture for once! It's been so frustrating recently, not being able to.

So here are a few photos of what I've been up to recently:

Sewing a 'taggy' for Nanny College - it's a lilypad!










 And the back...












 ... And a close-up! So we weren't technically meant to quilt it, but I wanted to sandwich the layers together, and after I'd done it the teacher looked at it and told me it was a good use of the pattern of the fabric! Win for disobedience!





Then a scary creature attacked me:

 Isn't it beautiful?! I know you can't tell from the photo, but this butterfly was huuge!! Here, let me show you another picture of it...

Isn't it amazing?! It flew into my room, so as the good human that I am, I caught it to release it, and as the blogger that I am, I photographed it lots before I released it! The colours were just incredible on this peacock butterfly...







And this little one turned 1!!! I can't believe it - a whole year of this little boy! So I went back to Manchester and went to his birthday party, which was brilliant. I got to see him walking around, which was the first time I'd seen it. I gave a book of his year of photos as a gift - more for Manndibles than Bilbo really, but what mum has time to do a photo album?!

I finish Nanny College in 2 weeks for Christmas - very exciting! I'm looking forward to going home, but first I have to complete 2 modules and part of a third. So it's off to work I go!

Love love xx

21st celebrations, including lovely gifts and cards and experiences, plus my mum came down and brought my sewing machine, the first sewing project made in Bath, and my week working on Maternity ward

So, it's official! I'm 21! I had an amazing birthday the other week - my placement were very excited! The mum gave me a huge balloon:

Which is still floating in my room!! Very impressive, definitely earning its moneys-worth! It makes me smile every time I see it, bobbing around.




She also gave me this beautiful card which she made herself:






Isn't that just stunning!! It's such a beautiful card, I can't believe the effort she went to! And she wasn't the only one...









The 4 yr old drew me a card as well! There is nothing I love better than a card which a child makes for me; it shows such care on the part of the child. For them to focus on something like this for such a long time -!





My placement family also gave me this book:

It's full of projects to make, with beautiful photos all through. There are so many things in there which I want to make, and the images are so inspirational. Even the front cover - I love the style! It's a book brought out by a (for want of a better word) store in Bath, which runs courses and classes in sewing and making, called The Makery. It also hosts parties and sells habadashery items. Very cool!

So I was given all of that amazing stuff from my placement family, then we chilled at home in the morning before going off for cake and coffee early afternoon with a friend and their child. The 2 older children were pretty tired from school in the morning, so their emotions were running a little high; but it was a lovely afternoon, with chats and laughs.

My mum came down the weekend before, and stayed a night. It was lovely - we chilled out Saturday evening, and went to Newark Park on Sunday. It's a lovely hunting lodge, not too big for a ramble, but very interesting and really pleasant. She also brought down my sewing machine:















And the bag of sewing machine extras (I made the bag with my sewing machine!!):

 And the gift my sister got for me:






An ice cream maker!! Very exciting! I can't wait to make some ice cream! I've wanted one of these for so, so long, so I can't wait to try out some recipes.





My mum also spoilt me by getting me an extra gift of this adorable fabric:

 Isn't that just ridiculous?! I'm so grateful - she knows what I like!! It's one of those fabrics you just can't leave a shop without buying.




 I got this lovely card from my Friday babysitting family:

 The 3 yr old drew these pictures of himself (left) and his little brother (right) which was just lovely and sweet and oh-so-cute! And they gave me a gift card to buy a book, and some delicious chocolates!





 And my housemates also got me some yummy chocolates, which are mostly stashed at the back of my cupboard in order to savour them(!), and this notebook, which is utterly stunning:







 It has a quote from the bible on the front of it - to be exact, Exodus 33:14. Notebooks come in so useful for studying the bible, so I know I'm going to love writing in this one!

We also went to La Tasca as a house, and had a delicious meal together which was lovely - our first meal out as a house!






And the final thing I want to show you is this:

 yep, I wanted to use my machine, so I threw this quilt together. Oh yes, I did just say 'threw together'. Because I took blocks I already had, joined them together, and quilted and bound it in a day! It nbow sits on my bed, and is super warm and snuggly! the batting in the middle is 50% bamboo, 50% cotton, so it's really soft and warm and delicious! I also ordered some other materials to start another quilt, and I know there are some bits and pieces in my room at my parents' house for quilting too, so it's going to be a busy quilting year I think! I used fabrics I already had for the back:





See how simple I kept it?!








And then a super simple siggy block on the back, too:

Just my name and the year it was made, nice and simple! I love the wavy stitch here - it's really simple as well, but it's very pretty and covers a multitude of sins easily. It also can give the impression of there not being a seam or an edge there, which I love! I've used it before on my mum's machine, when I made the wife's quilt, and when I made my laptop bag. I used bias binding I already had for this quilt, just to keep it quick and simple. I like making my own binding, but pre-made is just as good, and much quicker to sew.

So yeah, the last 2 weeks in pictures! I've spent this past week working on the maternity ward, which has been an incredible, indescribable experience. Lots of baby cuddles have happened, and baby baths and topping and tailing and first nappies and lots and lots of changing beds. It has been a full ward all week and I've loved it! I've had some hilarious conversations with mums about the real nitty gritty details of giving birth - those things you don't usually learn about until you actually have your own baby! One mum said that she didn't know you had to deliver the placenta after the baby; lots of mums said there was no preparation for the amount of pain having a baby came with; many of them described the tenderness and discomfort of the aftermath (the waddling that doesn't stop once you've had a baby!); and many of them talked about how weird it was that that was inside them only a few hours before. Truly a worthwhile experience, and I feel so lucky to have been able to do that. Having said that, I got a sicky bug from one of the mums and ended up missing out on the last day because I was ill. I feel much better already, but I didn't want to risk passing it on to any other mums or their babies, so I stayed off yesterday.

And that's all for now!

Love love xx

Bibles and festivals, babies are the best, and the month ahead

I know, I haven't posted in ages, bad me. But I have done lots of work, been to the Christian festival momentum, and spent the past 3 days enjoying a 10 week old baby boy! Of course, all of this means that very little sewing has gone on since the blocks I posted for QATWII. But the coming month holds promise, I think - when I get my sewing machine down to Bath!

Momentum was amazing, despite camping (the root of a lot of grumpiness). The worship was wonderful, the talks really interesting, and I splashed out and bought 2 new bibles! Shocking, I know, what could I need 2 more bibles for? Well, this is one of them:





This is the official Momentum/Soul Survivor bible in a year. It's arranged with one passage from each of the old and new testaments and a psalm each day. They also have this great blog where they explore the day's passages and what we can take from them. It's really great for if you've never read the bible before, or if you read it but then can;t understand how it can teach you anything, because the blog talks you through a particular focus or lesson you can learn from it each day. That's not to say that that's all you can get from the passages, but it helps to give at least one meaning to what you're reading!

And this is the other bible I bought - this one pretty much explains itself in its awesomeness:







































See what I mean? Bible in graphic novel form! Amazing! I mean, there are some dense bits of bible, like leviticus, numbers... I could go on. But this way they're fun to read!





And just a few pictures of the people I went with:






In worship...













The octopus posing...















I spent a lot of my time with these guys - and they're a lot of fun!

And me there as well!









And I had a blissful day today - I was getting in my newborn hours for Nanny College with the grandson of my mum's receptionist. He's 10 weeks and a day today, and he spent all afternoon fast asleep on me! He's so tiny and delicious and perfect, and I wish I could show you a photo - but I do not post photos of other people or their children without permission. But I assure you he's beautiful and placid and thoroughly lovable! And I would keep him if it weren't for the fact that his parents want him and stealing babies is wrong.

So that's me caught up! I'm back to Bath Thursday evening, and working Friday. And back at college in a couple of weeks. I'm seeing the boy tomorrow for lunch, and hopefully I'll see Mandibles and Bilbo before I go. But we'll see! All that's left to do is link this up to the Small Blog Meet on Lily's Quilts!

Love love xx

2 month disappearing act, Summer, Newport and Swansea complete with pictures of an air show and a baby buried in sand - but only up to his waist, plans for the day

Hey. I know, I've been missing for 2 months. I'm sorry. Life got stressful, and I got frustrated at my inability to both take pictures, and to get blogger to upload them. But then I bought a camera last week, so hopefully all frustration is gone! And don't worry, parents, it was a very cheap camera, and I spent some of my babysitting money to buy it, so I'm not frittering your money away!

I've finished Nanny College for the Summer - yay! I officially have 2 months before I start back! 2 months all to myself... except for the childminding and babysitting I'm doing; but I love doing it, so it isn't really work.

I spent the weekend in Newport, visiting a friend with her baby, her brother and his missus. I was only initially meant to be going for the Friday afternoon and evening, but it turned into the weekend, and I loved it. My friend, Mandibles, and I took her little one swimming on the Saturday - Bilbo loves the water, and even goes underwater without being fazed. He's almost 8 months, and is pretty unfazed by most things! And on Sunday we all went to Swansea beach and saw the Annual Air Show, including the Red Arrows. It was seriously impressive, and I would recommend anyone to go and see one of their shows:

 One of their close formations - they have enough for 5 minutes of white steam, and 1 minute each of blue and red. They used it really effectively!

They did a load of passes close to each other like this - in this one they filtered through each other.

I think they called this a gyppo? Not sure of spelling, and I don't know why it had that name.

They drew a heart in the sky!

And here you can see just how close they got - I think they said they fly within 5 and 8 feet  of each other - terrifying, but so impressive!

 Me (to mandible's brother): What if we buried Bilbo in the sand-
Brother: You can't do that! Bury him? What kind of nanny are you?
Me: Up to his waist! What if we buried Bilbo up to his waist in the sand and left him like that for Mandibles to find?

The result = sand in the nappy! Mandibles wasn't bothered, and neither was Bilbo judging by the smiles on his face! It was his first time on a beach, so very interesting for him.








So I got back Sunday evening, and yesterday woke up with eyeballs which ached when I moved them. Mammafairy says I probably have another virus. Boo. I've had endless amounts of them this term, barely recovering from one before I catch another. I'm starting to wonder if my immune system has gone on holiday without me. But I'm okay, it doesn't leave me feeling seriously deathly, it's more just an annoyance.

I have a cat to feed, plants to water, washing to put out, 2 fish to check on, and babysitting to go to this afternoon. So I'm going to stop now. But next time I will tell you the slightly traumatising story of the dead fish. It's okay though, it has a moral at the end. Sort of.

Love love xx

Photo March, Blogging April, Easter with Friends and Experiments, Poorly before Placement, College News, Knitting and reading, Work and Another Kind of Work

Hi! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’m sorry. Life gets so busy now, and then I find other things to do in my free time, and before I know it, a month and a half has gone already.

So March was meant to be ‘take a photo everyday’ month. Well. That didn’t really happen. I got some photos, but it wasn’t a success. Having to use my phone for photos rather than a camera was discouraging, and life just got busy, and I was too busy having fun to take photos. April was meant to be ‘blog everyday’ month – and you can see how successful that was!!

Easter was lovely – I caught up with lots of friends, and had lots of baby cuddles with my friend’s baby . He’s 5 months now! How time flies! A neighbour kindly gave me lots of baby clothes in 6-9 months to take back for him.

I blew eggs for the first time this Easter. I also dyed eggs for the first time. And filled hollow egg shells with yummy goodness for the first time. Look:

 

 Aren't they pretty?! And I dyed them just with food colouring! And they were brown eggs, not white, so I was amazed the colours came out so vividly.

A few green ones...











 This one was filled with brownie - yum yum yum!

This one looked rather aged, with an antique feel to it. I don't know why, it just came out that way!

 It is meant to look white inside - I filled it with a base of chocolate then white chocolate truffle mix on top. One day I will give you my recipe for it, but that might be challenging, since I don't really measure the ingredients at all...

See? So much fun to do! And so much fun to eat!











I didn't realise the dye would penetrate the inside of the egg, but it did. So the egg was a beautiful colour on the inside, this stunning aqua colour! It was slightly mottled too, which gave a gorgeous result.











I reached the chocolate layer... nom-nom...

Digging in with my spoon - it was a challenge to break into the chocolate on the base, but when I did, it levered straight out in one delicious piece!










 All gone! but see the pretty pieces left over? Well worth it, and something I hope to make a tradition of over the years!

I have a cold. Boo. It’s not too bad today, but yesterday was kinda rough. But there we go!

I start at my new placement tomorrow. I’m at the nursery attached to our Nanny College, which should be interesting. I’ve heard rather mixed reviews of it from other students – many say that there just isn’t all that much for students to do, as the placement operates a really strong keyworker approach. I think the approach is good in terms of forming strong connections with the children. But it must be a challenge for students. It means we can’t get practical experience of nappy changing, and things like that whilst we’re there. But I can understand why the placement works the way it does. For me, a person who hates to be doing nothing, the challenge will be finding jobs for myself to do so that I’m never just standing like a lemon. And of course I want to try to do as many creative activities as possible. They have an outside area there, so perhaps I’ll be able to do some gardening with the children. But we’ll wait and see what tomorrow brings!

We have new heads of Set. In first year, we get a new head and deputy each term. I hope they do well. It’s hard, because we’re asked to vote for the representatives we want; but we don’t know who actually wants to do the job. And without knowing that – well, there are 50 of us to choose from! There are so many people who would perform well in the role, but it’s very difficult to pick. It’s something I think I would be good at, but I’m not inclined to go for it in any way. I did so much of that in primary and high school, I’m kind of over the whole thing. Other people should get a chance, people who want to do it.

I’m knitting at the moment. But I’m not going to tell you what I’m knitting until I’ve finished it! I have some yarn for a pair of mittens too, but I’m going to wait until my current project is done before I start them. My sister has emailed me the first instructions for the mittens, so I’m all excited and motivated to finish the current work. I’m also still reading Sense and Sensibility. I’m really enjoying it, but I don’t often get the chance to indulge in reading purely for the sake of it. All too often I’m trying to do 2 things at once, and reading is not something where I can do that.

Not only do I have my first placement week starting tomorrow, but I have a module to work on next week. It’s a reflective blog, based on our time in placement and with a specific focus. My focus is free-flow. This is where the rooms in the nursery are divided into different types of rooms – creative, technology, sensory etc. and the doors are all open, so the children can all wander in and out of the rooms as they choose. There aren’t many resources about free-flow, but I’m planning to look at typical aspects of running a nursery which the free-flow design might affect, such as challenging behaviour, development, safety etc. This gives me a wider range of resources I can draw on, so hopefully this module should go pretty well! I also have 2 other modules to do this term – 1 on child health, where my focus in my group is immunisations. The other is on Working with families. I’m looking forward to them both, actually; I think I’ll enjoy them.

I also have a regular job! A family have asked me to babysit for them 3 times a week! They're lovely, with 2 boys, and I really enjoyed my first week last week. They're all so friendly, and so I enjoy it and enjoy the experience. The money helps, too - the security of it being regular is reassuring.

I’m hoping to start updating regularly again, but don’t hold me to that! Life can be so hectic, so I make no promises.

Love love xx

New Year, new start, Nanny College and Children, Assignments, Practical Skills, Making Friends, Christmas and Friends, Festive Food, Resolutions, Realistic Expectations and Positivity

New Year, new start. That's not to say a new start as in I've had a bad year, because I haven't. It's a new start because I haven't really posted at all since I started at Nanny College. Life has been so busy, and so hectic, and I've been working so hard at trying to get all my work done and make friends at the same time, that I've neglected all my writing outlets. I've barely written any letters since I began in September, my diary still lies open at an entry from 6 months ago, and the evidence of my blog is clear.

Even though I haven't written about it, I've had an amazing few months. Nanny college has been non-stop, and intense, and I've loved it all. I've had an incredible placement with a year 1 class. The staff there have been beyond helpful, showing patience and thoughtfulness, and helping me to grow in confidence. when I first started, I was terrified. I doubted everything I did and worried about using my initiative or doing anything without checking it first. But the staff were so friendly and encouraging, and I felt really comfortable and confident by the end. The children melted my heart everyday that I went in. They made me laugh, and smile, and sometimes I felt like crying when I knew there were problems in their lives that I could never even begin to solve. And yet even when I worried about them, I knew that by being there, by listening to them, and reading with them, and loving them, I was helping. One of the best things about working with children is that you are reminded each and every day that everybody deserves to be loved. Especially children. And if you're anything like me, you won't be able to help loving them. Of course, the downside is that your heart will break for every one of them, every time they have a problem. Your heart will break every time you leave them, and you wonder if they will grow up to be as amazing as they could be, or whether life will break them. Your heart will ache for every child you care for. But that pain is worth it, to know that you love them.

Sorry, got a bit corny and sentimental there! But I do mean every word. And that has, perhaps, been the best part of my first term. My placement has been a roaring success, and I received lovely appraisals. Other than that, I handed in my first 2 assignments. I know, compared to other people's university courses, 2 assignments doesn't seem like much. But these are beefy assignments which tie up more than just a module of the course. They're designed to be 80% independent study, and research, combined with practical aspects from our placements which make up primary research - although they have to be backed up with the secondary research, as we were constantly reminded! But that's okay, because I think it was helpful to be reminded to find sources and references to back up our inferences. I don't know how I've done in the assignments yet, but I'm expecting to get the results of the 2 of them over the next 3 weeks. I think I've done okay, though. As long as I've passed them both. I'm more confident about one of them than the other. But I've avoided thinking about them, as there's nothing I can do at this point. I did as well as I could, and hopefully that's enough for now. At least once I get them back there'll be criticism so I can understand how to do better next time.

The only other lesson I've had work to hand in for really has been practical skills. I got full marks for hand-washing homework, which was nice, and I've got a few more pieces of work to do for that - nappy changing, topping and tailing, and bottles. I love practical skills - it's my favourite subject. The teacher is really lovely, she always starts the lessons by discussing how we're all doing at the time, with placement, and work, and anything else we want to talk about.

I've made friends. Boy, do I feel like a child saying that. But it's true. Things have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride with my housemates - we've had a few issues, but we've also had some fun together, too. But I've become really comfortable with some girls up the road. They're second-years, and really fun. I feel like I don't have to put on a face for them, I can be me and that's okay. I've missed them over Christmas, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again when I get back to Bath. I've also got to know a few girls from my year, with whom I'll be living next year. They're all very sweet, and I think we will at least live tolerably together next year, if not fairly happily.

Some photos from my first term in Bath...

 ...With 2 of my future housemates at the Roman Baths...

 ...A second-year from 4 doors up...













 ...And one of the other second-years from 4 doors up...













 ... And the snow"Nanny" we made together!...













 ...A visit to Thornbury to stay with SW, a close friend and future housemate...











...And my friend's beautiful baby boy! He's 4 weeks in this photo, and my heart was utterly melted! I could hardly bear to part with him, I was so attached. Plus, my friend seemed to get at least a bit of a break, I think - she not only trusted me to be the only person who'd ever held her baby and been with him whilst she was out of the room, but she said he was less grumpy than normal with us! He had a huge thing for curtains, too...









I've had a nice Christmas. It's been so, so good to see my family again! Everybody else from College (foreign students aside) went home at least once, if not multiple times, in the past 4 months. But I didn't. I didn't miss my family, and I'm glad to have saved the money. But I was very happy to come back and see them all. It's been a quiet Christmas, but very sweet. And of course, I got to see my friends from the area again. I saw BM and her new baby boy!! I was sure it was a girl, but it's a boy, and I'm so glad, and he is a beautiful baby boy, absolutely stunning! The wife and I went round for a few hours the other week, and I held that cutie for a loong time! It was a lovely catch-up with BM, and so amazing to see that, though tired, she is very happy with her baby boy. I also saw EH and she is doing well at the moment, still with her boyfriend and happier with her housemates than the last time I spoke to her, when she was having trouble with one in particular. And I saw the wife, who was as darling as always. We caught up nicely, and talked for a long, long time. I miss her so much. I miss the days when we were actively in each others' lives, all the time. I know life can't stay the same, and i enjoy my life as it is now. But I do wish that the wife and I could see each other more often.

I have baked some. We had Christmas on the street, between 3 houses of nanny students. I made profiteroles, cheesecake and chocolate cake; and I helped peeling and chopping vegetables and sorted out the chicken. That's right, the vegetarian basted, stuffed and put the chicken in the oven. and we had a brilliant meal. And then since I've been at my parents' house, I've made gingerbread nannies, and the pieces for a gingerbread house, and truffles which were really pretty! I have pictures of the truffles, and I will do a post really soon with pictures of them and the gingerbread house - once it's no longer flat-packed! I will also then tell you all about Postsecret with the wife.

So - a good year on the whole. I've made friends, kept friends, started my course which felt like it was never going to happen! I've learnt about living with others, and how to care for my own house. I've learnt to budget, and I've started eating healthily. It's been a busy year, and I've enjoyed it. It's had its downsides, of course, but I would not give this year away at all. With regards to last year's resolutions - I do get out of the house every 2 days at least; I eat lots of fruit and veg every day; and I'm more honest about my feelings with people. I don't exercise very much, but I haven't really had time. And my bedtime was really good, right up until this Christmas period. My writing pretty much vanished completely, but hopefully I can bring that back. And I read lots of new books at the start of the year, but that has waned in the last 4 months.

so - the new year's resolutions. I want to progress from last year's, so I want to base it on those. But life is different now, as I am at Nanny College, so I need to take that into account. and of course, there are different issues to life which I want to prioritise, like my time management, and my health since I have gained a lot of weight which has left me feeling sluggish and tired...

Health:

• Exercise twice every week
• Eat 4 fruit/veg everyday
• Get to bed by 11:30 pm at least 5 nights a week
• Lose 3 pounds a month

Hobbies:

• Write in my diary at least twice a week
• Respond to letters within a week of receiving them
• Write at least 3 blog entries per month
• Start and complete at least one crafty project a month outside of lessons (knitting/sewing/arty)
• Read at least 1 new, unread book a month

Housework:

• Clean one room in the house per week
• Change my bed once per week

Financial:

• Save £10 from my weekly budget every week
• Work at least 1 babysitting job per month

Miscellaneous:

• Find out my blood type
• Create a youtube video
• Read my Bible at least once a week
• have a picnic
• play 10 children's games
• learn to make chocolate

I'm feeling positive about these. I realise, as I did last year, that I probably won't achieve them all; but they give me a good aim, and a good focus. I feel I can start things freshly this way. And each one has a timer to it, so even if I don't achieve it one week, or one month, I can achieve it for the next month. In that sense, it feels realistic. We'll see. I also want to set a wacky goal, one for each month. Just something silly, or crazy, or somehow selfish, that I want to accomplish, a different one every month. So twelve crazy ideas. I'll get back to you later with what they are. That'll be, 'later when I've figured out what they are'.

I'm going to go and glue my gingerbread house together, as best I can. Looking forward to a new year of blogging!

Love love xx