Emotional encounters

I've recently been watching 'Long Lost Family' episodes on YouTube (with Davina McCall).

If you like true stories about long lost family members and emotional reunions (along with a few tips about genealogy), then I reckon you'll enjoy these programmes. Be sure to have a few tissues nearby though, some stories are heartwarming, others heartbreaking. Mostly the former.

I have had some lovely experiences in my lifetime, rekindled friendships after years without contact for whatever reason. One friend in particular contacted me after approximately 9 years without hearing from each other. Circumstances changed where we were unable to communicate with each other for a long time but I always knew I'd hear from her again. The day I heard she was searching for me, I cried. And when we spoke again, it was just amazing to hear from her after so long and we now keep in regular contact via texts and occasionally skype! :)

I would like to share a desire I've had for a while though, to find a dear old friend who may still live a big blue sea away.

I'm excited and hopeful about finding her and sharing stories yet feelings of trepidation surge through me. Will she be happy to hear from me after all this time? Will she still like me for who I am? Can the phrase 'friends forever' be uttered again? You see, we lost contact, went different paths. However, over a decade has passed, life moves on. From what I recall, what happened in the past is trivial now... We're both adults now. I'm a wife and a mum. Maybe she's a wife and/or a mum? I would love to know and I feel like this could be a good time to reconnect. I hope she feels similar. I've missed her for years, never forgotten her warm, bubbly, silly sweet nature.

So recently, I was told a little information which I didn't know before. A few minutes on Google, and I see her face again. Albeit from 4 years ago, but still. A new identity, I discover. Married now. I dig a little more. I do believe I have found her and a possible way of contact. But wait... some more familiar faces pop up. Her husband may know people I know right here in my home country... well well... Ireland is a small world...

*Blog saved. Weeks pass. Nearly 2 months, here's an update.*

I was waiting to hear back with bated breath.

Hoping.

Then an unread message popped up on my phone. HELLO! and it is who I hoped it would be. And she sounds happy to hear from me. I'm delighted. Still nervous and slightly scared of rejection yet feeling comfortable enough to find out more. Definitely still delighted. Emotions rush about, I scurry to find words and photos of my family, to describe my life and past 13 years in 13 words:

Graduated, work, Dan, love, wedding, moved alot, sadness, good friends, Jehovah's support, babies!  = 13 words?!

I receive a lovely reply with photos and memories and I'm chuffed. Chuffed to bits that I have found an old friend after so long. She's well, happy and indeed, she is married to an Irish guy who knows people I know! Married the same year as me. Crazy world we live in.

I'm excited to meet again. My friends, especially back when I was an only child and teen, were like extended family then. Losing her, and my other friend mentioned above, was like losing family, to me. I thought about her alot, wondering how she was, was she happy. We had fun as teens, I wonder if we can have fun as adults. One day I hope to find out. Until there, I'm looking forward to rekindling an old friendship with HUGE thanks to Whatsapp, email and Skype. A long way from the snail mail we used back in the late 1990's & early 2000's. Though I do love receiving letters and cards still. A rare treat. It was lovely to hear we both still treasured each other's letters, despite silence, moves and marriage.

I was still giddy, days later.

(I wrote this is May, publishing in November. Second Update: we're still in contact and it's lovely hearing what happens in her life, just as it was when we were younger.)

Have you ever wondered...?

I always knew I wanted to become a mum.

Now that I am one, I think back to the days when I wondered what it would be like... and I question 'Was it what I expected back then?  Could I do better now that I'm here?' etc etc.

So I ponder.

I didn't really have expectations... which is probably a good thing because it's not what I imagined. The sleepless nights, pure exhaustion, constant worries and regular illnesses are part of daily routine. However, I must add before I depress too many friends... the warm fuzzy feelings, love and consistent home entertainment (without the need for a screen!) is delightful and I wouldn't trade it for all the wine in Tuscany... although perhaps I'd swap a bottle for a night or 2 off every 6-9 months ;)

Carrots, carrots and more carrots

Turning into a rabbit, I am.

This afternoon, I realised I had about 2 kgs of carrots and may need to use some up soon.

We love carrots in this house, but there's only so many things I can think of doing with them... coleslaw, mash, sliced, diced, steamed, grated, pureéd, soup etc etc etc. I grate them and add to all sorts of meals so the kids get their vegetables, one way or another.

Today I decided to make some curried carrot soup for tomorrow and prep some for another day (myself and my kiddiwinks got some for snacks this afternoon too...).

Parboil, cool, freeze. Done.

But what about dinner tonight?! Uh oh!

Fiddlesticks. Fed up of peeling veg today...

I'm taking a vegetarian chilli out of the freezer! :D

What do you like to make with carrots??

It FELT great!

So I finally managed to pour my felting equipment on our large kitchen table. Been waiting to do this for a couple of weeks, ever since my lovely post arrived from Jayne.

Baby happy, daughter at the ready with her helping hands, clean and dry... so we started the process and here are photos as promised :)

We followed Jayne's instructions (see her Facebook page called Flowerfelt by Jayne). She's in Co. Kerry, Ireland, makes some beautiful flowers, corsages, broaches etc.

I read the instructions out loud and we both figured out how to do the layering together. Something my 4 year old Teagan enjoyed, once she understood the layers needed to overlap so that the fibres would merge later on. She helped with the olive oil soap, lathered it up with a scrunched up plastic bag. Thoroughly enjoyed the satisfying creation of bubbles. She didn't like waiting around while I made sure everything was correct but that's to be expected... she's 4 :D

Anyway, I did the process of dipping the final product in hot water, then warm, then cold water to shock it. So cool. Teagan happily stirred it with a wooden spoon while little brother watched on.

The felt is almost dry (left it dry naturally, it's taken the full day and a half because it's January... the heating isn't always on and well... it's cold weather and I didn't want it to shrink too much so have been patient for a change) so watch this space...

Now to decide what to make. A flower (for my hair) I reckon... what do you think?

♥

Food, glorious food...

I love how my kids enjoy their food.

Teagan can be a bit fussy at times, a bit like me I suppose. She often judges a meal by the way it looks. With some encouragement (okay, and some reverse psychology sometimes), she'd eventually sample it and make her honest, sometimes callous, review - eg. Dan made a yummy satay recently; she licked it and loudly exclaimed 'but it's got peanut butter in it! I don't want/like peanut butter in my dinner!' etc... you'd swear she didn't like peanut butter... she actually does! We explained that wasn't very kind of her to say it wasn't nice, just because SHE didn't like the taste, we liked it, Daddy kindly made it for us...

Anyway... we taught her about tact and kindness and how to be respectful at the dinner table. We thought it was resolved.

Bearing in mind, she IS four.

A day or two after, she burst out in praise of the evening meal 'I like THIS dinner, this is my favourite, the best dinner ever!'

We commended her for saying lovely things, and then the bombshell hit...

'I like it because it DOESN'T have peanut butter in it!!!'

And proceeded to go on and on and on about it for weeks later.

She is her father's daughter *wink *

It's SO pink and FLUFFY!!

Last week,  I was sent a lovely little package of felting goodies to test out and review - thanks to the lovely Jayne @ Flowerfelt by Jayne (on Facebook).

Since I received it, there's been a hectic week... been out, had visitors, fallen down stairs, rested back, teething baby, funeral, preschool... and another funeral tomorrow... that's not all but I won't bore you with details.

Needless to say, my new felting experience has sadly not been sampled yet :( It's been put aside for a rainy day. Which could be this weekend by the looks of the weather forecast!! Never looked forward to a rainy day so much before! Teagan keeps eyeing the felting pack as it's something she can do with me... if I can cope with a 4 year old handling MY fluffy wool ;) Watch this space.

How to get some sanity. Part 1.

Sorry, you have come to the wrong place!

I haven't got a clue. And I'm in need of a clue... badly.

So I am decluttering my home in the hope that I can declutter our lives and brains. Hopefully it'll help us feel more than tired blobs of mush.

The great news is some of our friends are expecting their first babies this year.

I have everything for babies and yes, I hear you, I still have a baby... but he doesn't need some things anymore. Moses basket x 2 (small and large), clothes (newborn until 9 months), muslin cloths... blah blah blah. Not needed.

I'm excited about the clear out!

And I can preempt what you might be thinking...  and eh... no, I don't think so :)

I'm looking forward to enjoying my little ones a bit more this year. In 2013, I struggled. Depression hit and I really found a new and almost overwhelming low. So now that it is 2014, I'd like to think I can better it all and start finding my old, bubbly self. I want my kids to continue reflecting happy, sensitive, generous personalities, despite knocks and blips. Not be taken down by my low and currently grumpy exterior. To declutter my mind and relax would be nice. So here goes.

Ideas (on how to reach this goal) on a postcard please ;)