Hooked

This summer, blogging has been mostly replaced by all things yarny. I've been trying to teach myself how to crochet for ages, with not much success, and a kick start a few years ago, when I went to a half day beginners course while wearing my newborn was great but there's not much time to concentrate on a new skill when you've just had a baby.

A few weeks ago I sneaked in another beginners class which refreshed what I'd forgotten plus showed me the way avoid my rounds getting wavey and my squares triangular. But of course, beginners classes are great to get you started but you only really learn by practising it, and that's where life usually takes over with endless stuff that momentarily is more important thank picking up a hook and concentrating on the slow progress of a beginner.

Enter Crochet Camp.
What can I say? It's basically just what the doctor ordered, an online community of people right into crochet, from total beginners to what I would say advanced masters of the hook (some creations look super advanced to me but what do I know?), everyone is super supportive, brought to you by Kat Goldin, crocheter and designer extraordinaire.

There is something that really works for me, no longer have I got to trail across the city to find a crochet group or work myself through blurry youtube videos and still end up not entirely sure where to insert the hook. Instead, I can follow simple patterns at my own pace, be inspired by the more complex creations, but also able to step by step get more confident. Just being part of it motivates me to pick up the hook even when I'm shattered at the end of a day.

Of course, it's slow progress, but because the camp is so successful and has now well over 1000 people, nobody is behind or ahead, as everyone works at their own pace and there's no pressure, just motivation to have something to show as well. I like the structure too, which is loose, but following the weekly patterns gives me something to work towards which is doable and takes away the difficulty of choice (when you have to choose THE pattern you want to tackle next amongst the thousands that you could be doing from a book or ravelry). It's a bit of "just do it".

And if you get stuck, you can ask a question and your problem will be sorted in minutes.

This week there's a show and tell on Slugs on the Refrigerator, which in turn got me blogging again to show off (ahem) my first crochet creations. I'm still learning but I can see it falling into place and I totally understand now where I went wrong in my first projects.

My first ever project was a t-shirt yarn rug. Wavey (and I frogged the first attempt because it was even wavier) but still treasured in the castle den by the girls.

Second, a t-shirt yarn basket which is actually not bad, and I plan to make more of these as they are extremely handy.

Next, a crochet flower, done just after Kat's crochet beginners lesson that I attended. This is also the current project on Crochet Camp.



And finally at Crochet Camp, a potholder, and a bag in progress (I also made my first granny square but the yarn is dark and not very exciting).

 

I finally no longer feel that I'm holding the yarn in the wrong hand (strangely, although I learned to knit from my (German) mother, she taught me the "British" way), and I can work myself through a simple pattern now (haven't tackled charts quite yet). What's great too is that my kids love the colourful creations, much more than they like my knitting, so I've got a feeling that this bag won't be mine. Or maybe I'll have to make 3. I've definitely reached the point where I'm dusting off my crochet books and feel at home with the hook, rather than throwing it in the corner in frustration and returning to the needles as I used to do every time I tried to crochet.

Now onwards to tackle some charts, and have a closer look at the details that so far didn't bother with. Above all, I'm looking forward to finally tackling some of the project that have been tempting me for years.

Review: Plymouth Touch Control Lamp

When asked if I'd be interested in reviewing the Plymouth Touch Control Lamp, my first thought was, probably not. But I was curious and had a look. And how glad was I that I did! I instantly liked the design of the lamp. I may not be a design expert but I usually know more or less instantly what I like and the Plymouth Touch Control Lamp definitely ticked my like box.

It's a classic design with unusual light turquoise colour and the cable has a woven texture which is a

welcome change from the usual boring black plastic.It gives the lamp a warm and cosy appearance, it's stylish without showing off in any way. It would look equally well as a bedside lamp or a desk lamp, we've opted for the latter simply because the colour didn't quite go with our bedroom colour scheme, and I quite like the combination of our second hand find of a solid wood desk and the aqua colour of the lamp, they're clearly made for one another.

Moving to the practical aspects of the lamp - it is just the perfect size for a desk. It's operated by touch sensors which cover the whole of the lamp - so no looking for a switch or trying to touch it in the right place, it's incredibly easy to operate. There are three levels of brightness which have a great range, from a very soft and warm light that still gives enough brightness to read, to an astonishingly bright setting, considering the bulb range is only 20-28W.

The lamp head can be adjusted through a simple and solid key which allows movement of the angle in two directions, and provides good flexibility.

It's also not easy to knock the lamp over as it's sturdy enough to resist minor knocks.

All in all it's a beautiful and functional lamp that adds a special tough to any room. At £65 I'm pretty sure it provides good value for money, and it's certainly made me have a closer look at the lighting range that John Lewis offers, there's no doubt that our lamps and lights could do with a bit of upgrading.


---------------------
Disclosure: I received the lamp to review plus some John Lewis vouchers and the views expressed in the post are from the Mummy do that! household.

A Scottish Summer

In the 16 summers I've spent here, this is most definitely the hottest, sunniest, wonderfullest. It's not just that there are good days between rainy days, no, there's weeks of sunshine. There were summers where our BBQ did not manage to make a single appearance, now, it's becoming the staple ingredient of evening meals (ok, mostly weekends). Usually, a sunny day is so unusual that all has to be done to make the most of it, now we can take it easy and relax knowing that there's at least another week like this ahead of us.

Today, I've been in the Scottish Atlantic for the first time ever and thought it was pleasantly warm. The difference to what it usually feels like to dip your toes (and usually no more) into the Atlantic is quite astounding.

We had plans for the day but the kids knew what they wanted: Beach. And since everyone seems to go to Troon (and we'd never been), this is where we went. It occurred to me that 2 years ago I travelled first by plane and then on a 7 hour train, followed by a one hour ferry journey to see a similar scenery, when actually, the scenery is just a 1 hour car journey away. And of course, having the Arran mountains as a backdrop makes it particularly special.

Sandy beach, mudflats, tideways to splash in, and lots of memories of Foehr and marvelling how we have grown. Dad burried in sand, crabs and shrimps caught and released, water channels built and the tiniest sand castles too.

This summer may be one in a generation, but man, how good can Scotland be if the sun is out.

Who's the German?

There are some things that still surprise me when going between my country of living and that of origin.

• At supermarkets, you need to weigh the produce yourself. I'm so used to the untrusting way of the Tesco that I keep forgetting.
• At the breakfast table, in a restaurant etc, there is often no option of tap water. In fact nobody drinks it. At all. It's the land of Sprudel (carbonated water), which comes in glass bottles. We don't like carbonated water, in fact, my tonsillitis throat doesn't like any type of carbonated drink, so just as well we brought our refillable bottles. The restaurant owner wasn't happy, because it's really really rude not to order bottled water (carbonated) with your meal.
• People take condensed milk in their coffee. The oddity of this is striking. I don't think I know another country that does this, although borderland Belgium also offers condensed milk and no normal milk. On the plus, the coffee itself is good. And there's my favourite incarnation of coffee, the Latte Macchiato, which is painfully missed in the UK.
• As a consequence of the above, many places do not have plain milk available, the drink of choice for the kids, and the stuff I, unlike most of my compatriots, put in my tea.
• When you ask for tea, you are presented with a choice of about 50 teas, only one of which is what is commonly referred to as "tea" in the UK. Even my description of "black tea" (which used to work) rendered a Blackberry flavoured black tea.
• Right before left. I totally get why my beloved doesn't get it. It is rather hard to get, really, The UK traffic system is much more intuitive, and I have to actively remind myself so as not to cause an accident.
• People are so in you face direct. I mean, I've known this for a while, and I know that I've been described likewise. But but but, I'd never dare to moan to a stranger or complain in the right on fashion that I overhear on a constant basis and that makes me blush just for hearing it. On the good side, I found it rather sweet that the hotel staff shared her rather horrid day with me with absolutely no intention of implying that I was part of making it a hard day.
• Homeopathic medicine. I'm not a great fan of "alternative" medicine because in my mind it either is medicine (i.e. has a proven clinical effect) or it isn't. I'm happy to take plant based products of course, but that stuff they gave me for my throat is most clearly absolutely not doing anything and the price tag for this placebo was rather high. It would also be nice to tell me it was homeopathic before I bought it so that I could make an informed choice and say no thanks.
• Paracetamol however is the devil incarnate here and will kill you for sure, and I've already overdosed and just waiting for my liver to pack it in. But of course, I'm not allowed any other painkillers because, shock horror, I'm breastfeeding (for a total of 10 minutes a day only, surely I can have something to help me through the day???? Something that's a real medicine???? Please????)
• German school satchels (that term doesn't actually cut it, they are called "Ranzen" and are square boxes on a child's back, usually obscuring most of the body mass of a first year child) are even bigger now than they were in my day. My notion that it would be nice to totally label my child the odd German one out for the sake of satisfying my sentimentality came to a sudden halt at the price tag of, wait till you hear, Euro 150. For a school bag. Yes, it's well made, branded and lasts for the full 4 years of German primary school, but come on, that's still 30 quid a year?! And of course British kids don't have to carry all their school books and exercise jotters around with them so there's no bloody point anyway to Cubling having one of them. "But I want to look like a German school girl so that everyone sees I'm German!" She protests, and I'm not sure if I should be happy or deeply concerned by this sudden portrayal of German patriotism, kindled by what I'm sure is usually better known as consumerism.

Clearly, I've become a stranger here.

Review: Printerpix Photo Books

With all the photos we take of our adventures as a family, I'm always keen to try out new providers of photo products which bring the images on the external hard drive to life. A new kid on the block (to me) is printerpix, who gave me some photo product credits to play around with and test their products.

I went for a photo book, as it was my dad's birthday and as he's not close by and can't follow the children's adventures, it seemed a suitable undertaking.
So let's start with the finished product: It IS rather beautiful. I chose a scrap book style because I'd always meant to make a scrap book but never got around to it and the design appealed to me instantly (of course there are countless other designs to choose from, many with a particular theme in mind, really offering a wide choice). There are borders and frames around the photos which make the finished page look very special and catch one's eye, and of course it's that kind of thing that you simply can't do if you do it yourself. The colours are vibrant, the images all sharp and even the one image that came up with a warning of low quality looked very nice. At £43 for a hardback book, it's definitely competitively priced. And Opa liked it, which is not an easy achievement.

However, I had a hard time getting there. I do take my time over these things, wanting to do them just right. I also never just let the programme do its thing and just create something out of my uploaded photos. I do like to create themes, and to change layout to suit the theme/photo.

Now, all of the things I wanted to change/customise are doable, which is great. The software is definitely capable of a lot. However, it was a pain in the backside doing it: First of, in spite of a very useful short tutorial, it took me ages to find the zoom function to actually get a decent view of the page that allowed to make any changes at all. But even the zoomed in view was not detailed enough, so there were many mistakes made because I couldn't make out where I should click. I should say that I work on a notebook and on Firefox, so it is possible that the same issues may not be experienced with a bigger screen and a different browser. So after a while I gave up on adding descriptions because the view of the letters was so tiny that I couldn't check my spelling, and time was running out to get it done in time. Thankfully, it was easy to delete existing text boxes and their contents, if they were obscuring parts of a photo that I'd rather not have obscured. Other customisable elements were also hard to deal with, I struggled to apply a frame to a picture if it wasn't pre-set, and gave up eventually too (I'm sure if I had preservered, it might have worked, it certainly looked that it should be possible somehow).

I liked that you could easily save your project, so my stop and go approach wasn't an issue and no data was ever lost.

When it came to buying the book, it never appeared in my basket, which was rather odd, but was still in my projects. I had to contact customer service who were super quick to resolve the issue, so the customer support is ace (and had I known that they respond in real time almost, I would probably have asked them about the issues I had in the first place).

So overall I think Printerpix has some really high quality products to offer but the software interface could be made more user friendly by adding a zoom option. Of course, you could just let the programme do the magic and create a photo book for you and it'll be fine, but for someone who likes to be in control, it's a bit cumbersome.

********************
Disclaimer: I received credits for Printerpix photo products in return for a review post.

Down at the Mela

Every year, as part of the Glasgow West End Festival, the Mela transforms Kelvingrove Park into something rather special. We love the Kawa Circus (I'm a bit of a fan of street artists anyway), and our rather aimless wanderings brought us to storytelling, apple juice making, the best vegetable curry I've had in years and bumping into a number of friends we hadn't seen in a while. For once we managed to stay clear of overpriced rides because apple juice making and storytelling totally roped the girls' attention in. We were so busy enjoying these highlights that we kind of only happened across that we didn't even explore all that the Mela had to offer. Definitely an excuse to come back next year.

Today  I loved the way my big girl became so focussed on squashing apples and pressing juice, on listening to wonderful stories and on being enthralled by the Kawa Circus. This child of mine who is ever busy moving and has boundless energy, totally immersed in the process of apple juicing, or in the stories that appear to become real in her imagination, and then amazed by the magic of the circus.

And I felt rather sad having to wave goodbye to friends who are leaving Glasgow. 

Enough Food for Everyone

1 in 8 people go to bed hungry every night.
At the same time, there is enough food for everyone.
Around here, we throw food away while around here too, people go to bed hungry.

It's not right and a better world is possible, if we put our energy towards it.

There are 10 days left before the G8 meet and today will see the London leg of the Enough Food IF campaign events in Hyde Park. I'll be travelling there today accompanying a group of 9 Young Leaders, young people aged 14-18 who've been involved in campaigning on child poverty in the UK with Save the Children.

I'm very excited, I don't get to London very often and it's rare that I take part in big campaign events these days. It's great to be able to be part of this, and see the next generation get behind the issues that my generation still hasn't managed to solve.

I'll be tweeting on route, my Twitter ID is @cartside. We'll be spending about 11 hours on the train to be in London for 4 hours, and it's so going to be worth it.

In the meantime, please have a look at this video and check out the Enough Food IF website. Sign up and be there in spirit if you can't be there in person by uploading your picture for the big screen.

There is enough food for everyone in the world and it's our responsibility to ensure nobody goes hungry, because nobody needs to.

The Getaway

Of course we adore our children, but sometimes, just sometimes, it's also great to have a bit of a break. To do something that's neither work nor child related and not even a home chore.

My favourite getaway has usually something to do with making things, and while one could say that I'm free to do this after the kids are asleep, truth is that it doesn't happen a lot. Too many chores, too tired, not enough light. Above all, too tired (did I mention that already?)

So I had this cunning plan of gifting a crochet class to my wonderful sis-in-law, and cheekily joining in the fun. Ahem, that wasn't actually the plan but that's kind of what happened. A morning crochet class with Kat of Slugs on the Refrigerator (incidentally one of my favourite blogs ever, with never ending beautiful and inspirational pictures of things involving yarn, kids having fun and generally all that makes life worth living, that bring a smile to my face with every post). While the mamas were having fun up the road in Alloa, the four kids were left with my beloved hubby to jump on a trampoline.

Oh the bliss of it all, being treated to not just a fabulous crochet lesson but also tasty AND pretty cupcakes in herstunning studio, filled to the brim with little treasures and so much love to detail that it was actually not an easy task to focus on the crochet hook (some of which were also distractingly different to anything I'd seen before).

Time flew and when the time drew to a close I was sure we'd only just sat down and no way that 3 hours could have passed just like that, time clearly flies when you're enjoying yourself. Thankfully the weather was stunning so it was great to leave into the sunshine and an afternoon of being spoiled with lunch waiting for us, more cakes and Italian souvenirs by t'inlaws (who'd arrived in the meantime). We even worked hard on our crochet "homework", while the kids were having a blast with the hose...

Summer in Scotland. When it comes, nothing can beat it.

PS Kat has a few more crochet classes scheduled (including one in July in Glasgow's Stitchery), check out her blog for details and to sign up.

 

Days of windmills, stones and rhubarb crumble

Thanks to a very Glasgwegian bank holiday plus school in service day, both kids were off school/nursery, and me with them, for 5 full days. I treasured every minute of it because I constantly feel that we are so very short of quality time spent together, with most days being a constant "hurry up we need to go NOW". Usually, every minute of the day is planned through, so being able to not plan and do the simple things in our own time was oh so very special.

I felt I finally touched base with both girls, and they with each other.

We visited Whitelee Windfarm, a great place with a visitor centre that has a cafe with a stunning look. It's great for cyclists, walkers or those in awe of the big windmills (that'll be us) and above all stone collectors of which I have two. We also visited Kelvingrove Museum and Snowflake was rather excited about the giraffe, half tiger and bear. I loved the art nouveau stained glass windows and metal work. For the first time we had a look at real paintings, and it went ok (apart from Snowflake being over keen to touch them), so here's to the shape of things to come. There was plenty of time spent at  home too, at the swing park, cycling as a threesome, gardening and a lot of cooking and baking. I even finished my seaweed vest. Well, sort of. It's too short for my liking so I'll be adding an edging to it at some stage. It's wearable though.

It was even sunny for most of the time, and when it wasn't we still played in the rain, had playdates and ate the cakes we baked. We had BBQs for dinner when the sun was out.

Yep, we spent the good life for 5 days. Suitably recharged for the next 4 days before the summer holidays.

A fair deal for both Stay at Home Parents and Working Parents

The other day I signed a petition asking for a fair deal for stay at home parents. Without question, the recent changes and proposed changes are all in some way encouraging particularly mothers to work. Well, in theory they do, because there are so many ifs and buts, nevermind the lack of jobs that things look quite different in practice.

I'm very much in favour of women having the choice to stay at home if this is what they believe is best for their child, or to work if that is what they believe is best for their child. But let's be clear - it's often not exactly a choice.

With living costs being extortionately high, it's really only a choice to stay at home if your partner has a higher than average income. And even that may well not be enough. And if your ideal situation is somewhere in between, it's often not possible to get reduced hours to have a better work - parenting balance, and if you're looking for a job, part time jobs are rare as diamonds.

There are a few things that rather bother me in this context, the first being the wording of  the above petition. It suggests that as a family that uses childcare because both parents work, we are getting benefits from the tax system and therefore cost the state money. This is factually wrong. The truth is that because we both work, we pay tax, and the only benefit we can get is a tax free allowance, so we still pay tax. The economic benefit of working parents is definitely in the black. And as for low income families - they may even miss out on any tax free allowance if their income is so low that they don't pay tax. This, incidentally, is a very serious flaw in the system which has a devastating impact on the lowest earning, working, families.

What is correct though is that there is a good point for having transferable tax free allowances. What I mean by this is that if a couple without children both work, they each have a tax free allowance. Once they have a family and one parent decides to stay at home, the tax free allowance of the none working parent is lost. In other countries, this works differently - if there is only one earner in a family, this person will receive an additional tax free allowance per dependant. So say dad works, his own tax free allowance is 10,000, he'll get another 5,000 for his wife and 2,500 for each child. Higher incomes are taxed more progressively to make up for this (for instance, in the UK, higher rate tax is only applied to income over the threshold amount, while in other countries it's applied to all the income). A system like this does make staying at home affordable also for people on lower incomes.

At the same time I do believe that the taxation and benefit system has to ensure that work pays. This has not yet been achieved, although some of the changes within Universal Credits will make this the case for more people than before (and I hasten to add that other parts of the changes to the benefit system will have a horrendous effect on many family and are really nothing short of shameful). Childcare is so expensive that without support, only high earners can actually afford it.

What is however totally unhelpful in this particular debate (which is about fairness and insuring that staying at home to raise children is valued, respected, supported and a financially viable option for parents) is to propose that either staying at home or being a working mum/dad is the RIGHT choice. When we should actually be supporting each other in our choices, this turn of the argument leads to alienation and bad feelings.

Sure enough there are studies that demonstrates that children are better off at home up to the age of 3 and that long nursery hours in particular can have a detrimental impact on a child's emotional development.

But there are also studies that demonstrate that maternal level of education is the biggest indicator of a child's cognitive and emotional development, and that children who have 2 working parents also do better than children whose parent don't work.It is thought that this is due to the link with higher maternal education and also the financial ability to provide stimulating experiences for children.


Children from low income families, on the other hand, tend to fare really rather bad in the education system and measurements of cognitive and emotional development, and of course quite a few low income families will have one or both parents out of work - so in spite of parents staying at home, children lag behind their peers. The reason for children not doing so well in low income families are complex and there isn't space here to look into it in detail, but let's say it's a combination of many factors which parents themselves have very little influence on.

There is also the question of the quality of childcare - and Liz Truss' proposal to have more under 5s per member of staff, who are trained to be compliant and purposeful (the toddlers, not the staff!) will certainly not make for better childcare.

My own mother was a stay at home mum, and I don't think this made me emotionally more stable - in fact I struggled severely with shyness and low self esteem in childhood, so much so that I loathed going to school throughout my primary years (and I didn't exactly love it in secondary but at least I had some friends by then). I can't help but wonder if I could have benefited from more nursery hours than the 3 hours per day that I got from 4 years of age.

So there is no black and white, no ideal situation. Because we can't exactly all be highly educated mums who then abdicate their blossoming careers in favour of being Stay at Home Mums. Some of us aren't highly educated. Some of us can't find a job. Some of us can't find the part time job we want. Some of us are better parents if they're not full time parents. Most working parents will go through incredible lengths to ensure that the time they do spend with their children is the best it can be. Above all we've all looked at the evidence and made our choices. I know how important it is to reconnect with my children when I get back, we practice most of what falls under attachment parenting (though I don't follow it as a philosophy, it's just what happened to be our preferred style), we spend quality time together and I listen to my children all the time. I work on improving my parenting and can draw from all the knowledge that comes with delivering a parenting programme. I have amazing childcare providers, so amazing that both my children look forward to it and miss it in the holidays.

And while I believe that Cubling started childcare too early (which was outwith my control and I do not feel in any way guilty about it), there is no doubt in my mind that I've given both my children the best possible start in life I can, all considered.

So,  I do not believe that I'm a worse parent for working 4 days a week. I also don't buy into the argument that having a fair deal for Stay At Home Mums is encouraging people to be/stay on benefits (because really, who wants to be on those meagre benefits? Exactly, nobody). We all make or are having to make different and difficult choices but all of us are trying to be the best parent to our children whom we love more than ourselves. And those choices should be respected, valued and viable.