Thass Life Mom...

What IS it with teenagers?

Some days I feel as though I am the only person in this household actually walking on the ground; everyone else  appears to be travelling alongside on a trampoline on wheels! Up one minute, down the next, laughing turning to bickering in a flash. One moment I am having a conversation with a (reasonably) civilised human and the next I'm fending off a termagant whom I have just mortally insulted...and as for the poor Noddy car- well I'm surprised the passenger doors are still attached with all the slams they've received lately!

If Life is a washing machine I've been stuck in the 'spin and drain' cycle for some years now!

I really do feel that in the Instruction Manual for Life with which we are all (not) issued in the Maternity Ward, there ought to be instructions on activating a personal 'seatbelt sign' like they have on aeroplanes, just so I get a split second warning to duck before any particular daughter goes stratospheric....y'know?

Nuclear fallout is dangerous when taken regularly in large doses and close proximity.

So much for the teenage years, with us they appear to be lasting well into the twenties!

I thought that when the girls were little they were lovable and I couldn't possibly be happier with their company. Then when they were toddlers and the whole house was in constant turmoil with their antics, I thought that was the best time. Each began school and I thought that watching them learn was the most interesting and revelatory (?) experience, despite very rocky patches through the secondary years.

When Eldest went to College it was scary and hilarious but she came home with laundry and stories and disappeared again with half the pantry and that was great, whereas Middlest seems to bring most of the Drama Department home on a regular basis so that I have had to learn all about Ravening Hordes and The Warfare of Genghis Khan...which training has stood me in good stead for Youngest and her school friends.

I have recently entered the peculiar phase of getting to know boyfriends, which, let me tell you, is a whole new minefield of guesswork and twisted ankles (metaphorically speaking- big word!!) and brilliant fun in a 'how much can I get away with?' way.

At each stage, despite tantrums and stern talks and occasional despair, I thought THIS is the best time! But finally I am coming to realise that every time can be the best time, even the evenings I want to knock their heads together or when Middlest comes home with yet another tattoo...

If I take nothing away from the last twenty four years except the experience of Motherhood, that's ok, it still makes me one of the lucky ones.

INVASION of the Teenage Campers!!

Just when I think I've survived the Easter holidays intact, and all that's left to do is to play the organ on Sunday morning before returning to school and starting a new term...an INVASION arrives...
Nine teenagers, friends of Youngest, all set to camp in the garden...night frost, hailstones, rain and wind notwithstanding!

Mad! I tell you! Mad altogether!

They pitched tents (four in total), collected their own kindling from along the bottom lane, had a chat and fed carrots to Mary Horse, chopped logs, lit the fire AND kept it going despite the wind, cooked out (baked beans and skewers- chicken and vegetable) (having prepared the vegetable skewers first at the kitchen table, and wasn't that a laugh!), went for a torch hike, froze, talked for IrelandEnglandScotlandandWales, did some stargazing (someone brought a telescope), retired inside to watch a video and warm up, retired to their tents, and were up at dawn for another hike before landing in the kitchen like a bunch of zombies to cook a massive breakfast which went on for nearly four hours!

I have to admit I get such a kick out of them all, from their attitudes to tent pitching (lying on the grass watching everyone else and offering advice) to trying to keep the fire alight (have you anything else ready to burn?), as well as the snippets of conversations overheard!
...and another thing? Under the direction of Youngest they left the place as neat as a group of teenagers could! Mattresses and bedding all returned upstars, kitchen and garden clean and tidy. MEGA-impressed!

Gotta love teenagers...sometimes!!

And now we are down to the last day before school and the dreaded WSE. Aaaargh!
Oh well, this too will pass...

Success! At Last!!

A new week!

It was a truly successful weekend though!

First; I successfully dyed every one's whites (undies and tee shirts) pink...not a nice uniform pink, but the blotchy I-guess-your-Mom-did-this kind of pink. So, no hope at all of anyone passing the garments off as being funky tie-dye or even pretending it was always this colour...

Second; I successfully put together a small bookcase which the Hub bought flat-packed...he had to tighten the screws but I am quite chuffed with myself because, so far, it hasn't collapsed! Which also means that I could tidy my desk!!

Third; I successfully managed to really annoy Youngest by telling her to wear a coat out on Saturday, and she'd dressed 'cool' (Rock-Chick mode is her present style!) and thought a coat would spoil the effect!
I told her it'd be another kind of cool entirely if she got soaked to the skin and spent hours in sodden clothes...she went off in the usual 'mothers-who-needs-'em' grump.

And fourth; I successfully agitated my dust allergy by tidying up the linen press and stirring up nearly four years of dust and some dead bugs!
You know the way you dump things places when you move house and then certain presses and odd corners take years to get to because other places are 'on view' more?
Well, this was one of those places...so the last two nights...

(Fifth) I've successfully kept everyone awake with snoring and snuffling and sneezing fit to rattle the foundations (I'm told!)!
Heck! Can a girl be more popular!!

I'm a Success!

At long last!!

Saturday Tea OR Feeding Time at the Zoo?

And then they all dolled up and went out for the night!Curfew for BBugs lot is 1am...Sos' lot intend to multiply and return by taxi-train 'whenever'!

The clocks go forward an hour tonight- I'm playing for Morning Service at 10.30am...and...

Lunch party tomorrow...

Flip! It's Friday!

I considered just posting my 'to do' list for today, but I was afraid you'd be so disgusted by what that would demonstrate about my housekeeping that you'd all disappear into the ether for good!
So neither will I post any photos!
Suffice to say that with five of BBug's friends spending the day here tomorrow and then returning late for a sleepover, and about ten of Sos's friends sleeping over Saturday night and spending Sunday, a good CLEANING is in order...including floorspace for bodies.

When I go to do the shopping I forgot I've to borrow pans and casserole dishes from Mom as it seems there could be upwards of twenty to Sunday lunch, and you know how much food gets put away at a gathering!! It'll be Sos's 19th birthday on Sunday and you'll never guess the cake design she wants...A PINK HANDBAG!!

And on that note, I'd better get going!

Don't forget to enter the Inspiring Music Challenge- I am so enjoying listening to your choices, thank you so much!

Oh and if you're a facebook person will you consider joining my Group please? Or become a friend...or both! I'm at facebook.com/heckety.beck.

PS. If there is an unearthly silence from this blog for several days, just open your windows and listen to know all's well...the racket from Sos' parties tends to be stratospheric....

Open Studios Event

Welcome to my Fabulous Studio...actually, its in my kitchen! We have a lovely big kitchen as I am used to hosting streams of gangly teenagers so, although today my workspace is all open and viewable, on another day it might be all packed away and the space taken up with extended tables, up to twenty chairs, loud music, and youngsters cooking for themselves and having (loud!!) fun.

By the way, if you have the soundtrack to 'Top Gun' please play it whilst you take the tour as at present it is my favourite working music! (Yeah yeah, showing my age, don't tell me!!)

Here is the Dining table (extension closed) with my latest project being put together.
Behind the table I am using the grey trolley table as a cutting space. You can laugh, but the Hub pulled it out of a skip in the Industrial Area a few years back! The height is adjustable, and there is a pull out section (here pulled out) which extends the surface. Sometimes I sit at it but I also transfer the sewing machine onto it at standing height if I want to machine quilt as I find that easier on my back. Very useful!

Storage...sometimes all pushed under the work-table, but I hauled the boxes out looking for yellow fabric. The chair is also out of a skip- at the Recycling Center, this time! I love the big African baskets, of which I have several; I can hide a multitude of sins in there! Many, many years ago I even found one of my children in an empty basket hiding from me because she had been bold!

My lovely old pine cupboard, and plastic drawer trolley.

Terribly tidy and well-organised contents...I DON'T think!

Sewing space right by the cupboard, with extra expandable desk lamp. Those are cookery books, by the way, my sewing books are out in the hall. All the threads and notions are to hand in boxes and cartons on the table.

More storage out in the hall, right by the kitchen, along with a load of houseplants which have to be battled through if I want something out of the end white drawer!

And opposite the above cupboards, the quilt frame with this week's finished quilt top. I love hand quilting but as it is so time consuming I have begin teaching myself to machine quilt. The Hub planed down 2''x2'' lengths of timber to make my frame fifteen or more years ago and it has done good service. Five minutes after I finished putting the quilt up this morning Ben-dog (black Labrador) came galloping in covered in burrs and ran along underneath the quilt. So first I had to catch and de-burr him, and then crawl under the quilt to de-burr the backing! Aargh!

So there you have my workspace. I like being in the kitchen with people around, and also it is warm in the winter with the range which means not having to turn on the heating during the daytime. Perhaps one day I'll have a dedicated Studio, but I'm in no hurry...as long as the children keep their bread and jam away from my fabric!

Thank you for visiting!

Sunday...oh my! Tuesday!

I've just opened the Utility room door to discover wall to wall re-cycling...I guess Ben and Bertie had a disagreement earlier.

Well we sure got the spare room finished in the nick of time, it's been occupated since Saturday by a stream of teenagers, with more on the floors upstairs. Which is fine and fun and a lot else, except that the Hub, in his wisedom, moved the computer to the spare room and I haven't had access for days...rethink?

Sunday's Sermon concerned the beginning of our reading of the book of James. I wish you could have heard it for yourself because our Rector transported us to the Holy Land in the first century though a search to authenticate James the brother of Jesus as the Book's author.
(photo from http://www.kandle.ie/)

In 1 Corinthians 15 Jesus appears after His Ressurrection to James, as well as the Apostles; Paul calls James 'the pillar of the Church' and seeks him out; received tradition has James as the first Bishop of the Church in Jerusalem; when Peter is arrested and put in prison, he tells his friends to tell James, which would indicate his opinion of James' importance. In Acts 15 James was among the leaders signing his name to a letter, and in AD 62 James was stoned to death by the authorities, which came as a shock after such a vivid recital of his life and credentials.
Apparantly opinion is divided concerning the Book of James as to why exactly it was written. Our Rector thinks it was written as a sermon and an eccouragement to be sent out to his own parishioners after the dispersal of the Jerusalem Christians; a letter from home, so's to speak, from their rector. If I was far from home, starting again in a foreign place and trying to live a Godly life, I would welcome such a letter. I guess those people must have too, or it wouldn't have been kept long enough to make it into the New Testament. Our Rector pointed out that since neither the world nor God changes, a letter written today could have strong similarities.

Its the season of wasps here, which is a bit odd considering how wintry the weather is. The Hub managed to cut the grass yesterday which is a vast improvement on our surroundings! Since Sos has swarmed off with the gang who was in residence here I can't try her dress on her, but I think it is almost finished, and I only re-did the zip five times...Now she wants a huge bow for bum, and a matching clutch bag, and her escort has been promised a matching tie...
B goes back to school tomorrow, and I have the first Assembly of the term in the primary school. Am I prepared? Not! Is B prepared? Well, she has her new textbooks and stationary, but I need to make over one of her sister's old skirts for her uniform and , due to the Debs' horror, I haven't done it yet...Its a pain being the youngest...

If you like sea-poems and care to visit, I just got a bit carried away next door! ( http://heartwarmingtreasures.blogspot.com/2009/09/sea-fever.html )

शोर्ट एंड स्वीट(short and sweet)

Several days ago Sos's laptop arrived, I guess all students (or potential students) need one, Dilly would be lost without hers. So, since the sitting room and kitchen are over-run with teenagers and I can't get near the dinosaur computer I've nicked hers. Some awfully odd things are happening, for instance my typing is turning into Hindi! Look: माय टाइपिंग इस तुर्निंग इन्तो हिन्दी! Did you know I am fluent in Hindi? Neither did I but isn't it great to discover a hidden gift?

Would you like to know what the rampant teenagers have just informed me? There's another three coming to supper, going out, and returning to spend the night! And two are boys and boys EAT! I bought dog food, cheese and soya milk this morning, would anyone like to invent a supper recipe using those? I don't mind at all about them coming, its the lack of food bothers me as there aren't exactly a whole lot of grocery shops up here in the mountains.

Dad gave me a present of a new CD this morning when I went to visit- Organ Music. Wasn't that lovely? Sure aren't Dads a fabulous invention? Soon as I've done here I'm going to get out the quilting and play it. Sos is baking for the hoards, and then she will have to play 'loaves and fishes' with two frozen pizzas and a packet of frankfurters. I'd better go and make bread too, that would fill in a few gaps...Tally Ho!

Live life abundantly!

Exhibit A: one loaf of bread.
Exhibit B: one bread maker (square-ish white yoke behind champagne bottles from Sos' eighteenth birthday, and yes, that unfortunately is the state of the utility room at present).
I'm putting these first because the sermon yesterday was based upon John Ch 6 v33 and the symbolic attributes of 'bread'. Bread is essential to keep us physically fed, and there is enough food produced on our planet for no one to go physically hungry. But in the same way that the available food does not reach everyone, spiritual food does not reach everyone either i.e. the importance of loving, sharing, forgiving, accepting, there's plenty more to add. And very often it is the spiritual famine in our own communities which is the nearest to us and most straightforward for us to act on. The Minister was not calling for us to pack up our bags and head for Africa, nor was he suggesting we all begin vegetable gardening, he was just pointing out how easy it is to smile, be polite and helpful and friendly to folks we meet, people on the margins as well as our best friends, to be AWARE. Sounds so easy huh? Pardon the pun, but plenty of food for thought....!!! (sorry, couldn't resist...!)

One more throwaway remark he made at the end of the Service was this- 'To whom am I accountable?' That has me stumped, because as adults in theory we have free choice in almost everything. For me my faith keeps me accountable to God, and obviously I'm accountable to the Hub in behaviour and many choices (like the housekeeping money...aargh!), and socially we are accountable to the law or we'd all be merry little axe-murderers, or not, but think about it, where does the buck actually stop for each of us?

Later in the afternoon the Hub went and fetched Sos and a friend who is visiting from Dublin. They'd had a good few days, actually I don't think they'd actually slept for the previous two nights through all the hooleying. I made everyone pasta to keep them going until supper, and then keeled over about four o'clock; two days of Services and organ playing takes it out of one. Luckily there was bread made so they got themselves toasted cheese and snacks and watched several videos I think, judging by the mess I got up to this morning!

The Hub finished the roof on the shed and started cladding the walls, in between deluges. It's been so wet he can't cut the grass, which is happily invading the veg beds. A real pain. I tell you, if John Wyndam was ever wanting a sequel to 'The Triffids' he could visit my garden and receive all the inspiration he needed; perhaps I could be his 'Muse' and have a horror novel dedicated to me! Ha ha! would that be irony, freudian slip, or just desserts? (rhetorical question- DO NOT ANSWER).

Oh hang on, is he still alive even?

Of teenagers, ham, and quilted sheep

In which our heroine fills her home with dotty teenagers, listens to stories of France, and teaches a friend to hand-quilt...

Well the amaryllis seeds are planted and in the hall under plastic. It will be interesting to see how long they take to germinate, the book says between 14 and 35 days which is a bit vague really. I guess being tropical the variables are pretty wide.

B has slept off the late nights from the French Trip and has now got her voice back too! She must have talked for three hours straight on Tuesday evening when she returned. They saw and did so much; the time was really put to good use. The tone was set when she descended from the bus and greeted me:
Mum, Mum, I put on three kilos when I was away!
Really? (as I twisted to see how she was different).
Yes! In my luggage!
And, unlike her eldest sister, she did NOT fall into the canal on the cycle trip! I’d known for several years that a student, complete with bicycle, had gone into the canal one year, but they had conspired not to let me know it was MY daughter, since no harm had been done. She’s not called Dilly for nothing you know! Should I be retrospectively mortified I wonder?
On the way home, in Belfast Airport sniffer dogs were being trained and the students were asked if someone would carry a bag through Customs as part of the exercise. The teacher agreed and B and Co. were really interested to talk to the dog-handlers and find out a bit about how the dogs are trained.

Yesterday the house was full of teenagers. Sos and friends are going to Spain for a week as a ‘finishing school’ celebration. They have organised the whole holiday by themselves and it will be the first time any of the seven have been away without adult supervision. It will be good for them to have to cope and there will, no doubt, be great stories on their return. They leave tomorrow evening on the Dublin bus as their flight is 6am on Monday morning! Yesterday they were sorting out what they wanted to do in Spain using the internet as well as the guide book. Later others arrived as one of the girls is returning to Korea next week and they wanted to say a proper good-bye to her, not knowing when, if ever they’ll see her. It was a lovely day with the house full of people, mothers and sisters, as well as Sos’ friends.

At lunch time one of the girls, who is obviously not used to dogs, left the packet of ham on the edge of the table whilst making her sandwich. I glanced across the kitchen to see the dog quietly edging up to the table, trying to simultaneously watch me and the ham. You could practically see the cogs turning in his head trying to figure whether he could get to the packet before I could get to him! He reckoned without human’s ability to talk, Sos moved the ham out of his reach, so he had to try and pretend he hadn’t been up to anything. Difficult when we were laughing at him!

In the evening everyone went off to parties: teenagers to an end of school party at a friend’s house, and the family to a midsummer party. I was doing ‘taxi momma’ and had also to buy another box of cornflakes, as Dilly came home and ate the lot, not knowing there was a sleepover intended. Two carloads returned here and at 4o’c I went to bed, leaving Sos and Co. in the kitchen drinking tea, grazing steadily, and arguing over what film to watch! Whew!

This morning I was out early as I was teaching Mum’s God-daughter the basics of hand quilting. She has made the most gorgeous little quilt for a friend’s baby: twelve black and white sheep appliquéd onto lime green squares. After some discussion she decided to do two rows of echo quilting around each sheep and then perhaps a quilted buttercup in the corners where the blocks join. The fabric and design of her quilt have real ‘wow!’ factor, simple, and really well sewn. It was really enjoyable working with her and helping her to start the quilting off.

When I returned home it was to find everyone slouched around on sofas suffering from being up so late. Sos’ friends had been collected, Sos was at work for the afternoon, and Dilly had returned from staying the night at the midsummer party. Everyone had had a great evening and there was lots of general catching up with people to report. The art of conversation is alive and well in the North West!