The Little Things.

This weekend was gorgeous and just what a weekend should be: a little work to give a sense of achievement (actually it was a LOT of work as I cut yet more huge branches out of our garden hedge to introduce some light and allow the plants to grow a little better); a lot of eating delicious food; a lot of relaxing, whether in the courtyard with a glass of wine or by our fireside where the logs blazed beautifully - the result of me taking to the woodpile with my mini-chainsaw. I had a great time!

We also had a fair amount of wildlife in one way or another. This sweet little shrew was on our doorstep. The poor thing was obviously a casualty of one of the cats and is not the first this year I'm sad to say. Isabella was as fascinated as ever by its tiny, almost perfect body with velvet fur and so tiny eyes.

I love the fact that she is happy to hold such things ans it offers such a great chance to learn about them (though I would rather it was alive, needless to say).  She took it off and buried it in the flower bed after telling both the cats off. Not sure they took much notice but it made her feel better.

Having hacked back so much of the garden I then gathered in the rosehips to pop in the freezer until I have more time/energy to make something with them. Aren't they amazing this year? The hedgerows seem to glow with colour and I realise that all the books recommend waiting until they are frosted but in Cornwall they rot or are eaten long before that happens. I did leave plenty for the birds.

Frogs and toads also appeared at regular intervals. There are several stone walls and masses of overgrown areas in our garden which they seem to love. 

I think we are incredibly lucky to have the ability to so easily study nature - Isabella calls us the 'Nature Girls' though I am not sure everyone would see that as a good thing! Isn't this chap just stunning?

We all scoffed the last of our peas from the veg patch. While they didn't really produce very much it has been great to have a regular supply to snack on, pods and all. Growing our own has definitely had a good effect on Isabella's eating as she is happy to graze from outdoors. She and Lucy will often be found scoffing peas and handfuls of chives or a parsley stem with a crisp apple straight off the tree. Leftovers go to the rabbit, guinea pigs, ducks hens or compost heap.

Get away from me with that camera Mama!

And finally on a business note, my new Personalised Baby Journal is now available from either my website (as of this afternoon), my Etsy store or my Notonthehightreet.com store...phew.

This covered notebook is available in two sizes:  A6  (10.5 × 14.8cm approx) or A5  (14.8 × 21.0cm approx) and has a removable Winsor & Graham hard-backed notebook with approx 96 pages (48 sheets) of high quality paper - perfect to jot down memories, special events or to use as a pregnancy journal.

I am actually rather pleased with how this design turned out and really enjoy embroidering the birds with the little baby beak coming out of the nest. It can be personalised with the name of your choice and could read 'The ... Family' as shown or the name of the baby. 

Wouldn't it make a great Christmas present for someone special? Yes, I did say the C word!

Go on, you know you want to x