a boy's room

~ still waiting for news  (will have no news before monday and i need to be at work on the 1st of september!)

~ still seeking distraction

~ still haven't decorated my son's room

 i spent some time looking for ideas on etsy

(in case we do get to stay home)

I think you can gather the theme from my mosaic!

I've already bought the fabrics for a bedspread, and a trip to the city centre for some yarn  for a blanket is planned for tomorrow.

Now, if only we could stay here!!!

(click on the numbers for links to the shops)

1.  2.  3.  4.  5 and 6.  7.  8 and 9.

inspiration and creativity

Have you ever felt that after a long period of doing something with your whole being - you know, being there, focused, body and soul - you are drenched and have nothing more to give?

That's how I've been feeling the last couple of days in relation to the time I spend with my little boy (who, by the way, is not so little any more and says things like "why did you book tickets for The Little Prince? I don't want to go to a play; I'd rather stay with dad"! - hum?)

Anyway, after having made an incredible number of Christmas crafts, read countless Christmas stories, played with play-doh for hundreds of hours (not literally but you get the picture), I ran out of ideas for mum-son time. Of course he spends a lot of time playing on his own but I'm talking about our time here.
Υesterday afternoon, I let him watch a film on TV while I surfed the net for ideas. And I found it! I came across this illuminating post. Maya's blog is such a great resource!

Not everything needs to be planned and be made with a certain outcome in mind, right? Right! So free expression it is, then! I took out whatever materials we had here and the idea was welcomed with utter delight!!!

Oh, the fun we had!

Take care!
xxx

my today and ... finally ... interview partners

~ after school fun by the river ~

~ a healthy meal of lentil soup and lettuce salad ~

~ oatmeal cookies; yum! ~

~ quiet time with pre-school maths (drawing mostly) and crochet ~
~~~~~

ok, ladies. I've got your interview partners ready (with the help of little slips of paper with our names on).

first of all, please accept my apologies for the delay;

after the whirlwind of the past two weeks, life has found a rhythm again.

now, I won't say who will be interviewing whom here;

I'll e-mail all the info you need

(if I don't have your e-mail, I'll leave you a comment).

some general guidelines:

~ it would be preferable if we could do it before the holidays.

~ you may arrange the interviews however you like; exchange e-mails and form your own rules as to who will ask the questions first, what the questions will revolve around and so on. if your partner is only interested in only one part of the interview, I could do the other one.

~ a little card swap would be nice but again it's up to you to decide.

~ together with your answers to your partner's questions, you may attach photos - maybe ones that appeared on your blog, or anything else you consider relevant; this way we'll get to know you better

~of course, you need to post the interviews on your blogs for everyone to read; if you don't have a blog, I can post it for you.

~ let me know when you've posted an interview so I can add a link.

I think that covers it!

thanks for playing along!

apart from my partner, I'll be glad to be interviewed by anyone else who's interested in my little existence.

~~~~~~

ok, then!

let the fun begin!

I can't wait to hear from you!

xxx

focusing on the bright side (and interviews update)

monday evening finds me at my little corner of the world,

at this small village near the country borders.

the weekend was full of social visits and other commitments;

lots and lots of cooking, too - hubby now has a freezer packed with healthy, homemade dishes to last him for a while.

despite all this craze, i did manage to catch a glimpse or two of my christmas cactus ~ we call it 'patience' here, remember?
this is what it looked like ten days ago.

and...
i was lucky enough to be at home again this weekend to witness its full bloom;

i took these photos yesterday.


there won't be any blooms left when i go back for christmas
and i'm so grateful for this perfect timing!

~~~~~~~

now, for the interviews;

i need to send a couple of e-mails with some questions i have and then i'll let you know who you'll be interviewing and interviewed by - that will probably be my next post.

of course there's no deadline, anyone can join, whenever...

so... sharpen your pencils and get ready for the fun!

~~~~~

take care!

xxx

"rainbow"

sunday morning~

hubby is away on business~

I went to bed at 3 in the morning~

little one woke up at 7~

I manage to nap a bit in his room while he plays with his legos~

at 8, he's all ready for his usual 'loud' play~

now what?~

I can't stand noise~

think, woman! think!~

'how about playing "rainbow" on the balcony?'~

yay! he gets excited!~

brushes, watercolours, drawing pad, milk, coffee, magazine~

ready:

"so, tell us my little friend, how old are you?"

"I'm five, Mr Chris"~

phew! all's well that ends well!

'Rainbow' is the name of a children's programme we watch every afternoon after school; the host reads letters, makes crafts, chooses books and welcomes children to the studio, where they paint and talk about themselves.

I have to say, it was quick thinking on my part, which proved to be very successful!

PS. Excuse the punctuation; I felt like playing a bit.

February

While looking for ideas

for a handmade gift

for a special friend,

I came across this site;

I spent quite some time there

'aaahing' and 'ooohing'

-as some of you would say-

and then bookmarked the page.

Lots of lovely ideas

if you like crafts,

and lots of eye-candy

if you just like beautiful things.

*~*~*~*~*

Happy February everyone!

xxx

November

Hello ladies!

I just got back from work, prepared little one a snack -he's always hungry when we come home although he's had lunch at school- and sat at my desk to wish you all a wonderful, sweet, cosy November and show you a few of the things we did over our stay-at-home weekend.

Soooo, ...

...there was changing pots to some newly acquired herbs (thyme and oregano); I know this sounds more like a spring task but the little plants were a gift

... there was a ♥ precious ♥ family breakfast


... there were beautiful colours in the sky (please ignore the rooftops)


... there was a delicious, warm meal on Sunday



...there was lego-playing while mum was ironing (imagine whole mountains of clothes)

...and 'pic-nicking' on the living-room floor (the piles of clothes you see is the 'food')

...and of course, there was coffee, home-made biscuits and a good book

...and, needless to say, more coffee, cake and the same good book.

How was your weekend?


While thinking about November, these two ideas sprung to mind:

film: Sweet November (listen to this song by Enya-gorgeous!)

and

song: November Rain

Can you suggest anything else relating to this month?

Enjoy what's left of autumn and be prepared to welcome winter (scarves and gloves all ready here)

Take Care

xxx

Pink Thoughts

Lovely Christina from Soul Aperture has had this idea of supporting the Breast Cancer Awareness Month by posting something pink each Thursday of October. I only found out on Sunday so I missed the first one but I'm participating from now on.

Since prevention is much much better than cure and in this particular case a life-saver, make sure you do what you should!

This rose-bush was planted by my mum years ago. It reminds me of her.

Take Care!

xxx

The Prince's Rainforest Project

Hi there!

I just wanted to draw your attention to this effort.

Hope you're all well.

Back to school!

I've been missing school since I've finished my second University degree and had been thinking of doing a master's degree when the sad news of my mum's sickness hit the family. Two and a half years of getting in and out of hospitals and an extremely painful end left me with no strength at all but for the absolutely necessary task of looking after my family. Work hasn't started yet but that's practically outside my door.
Anyway, I came across this wonderful blog a couple of days ago and enrolled to a course that sounds fun, without posing a burden on me. I'm actually thinking of buying school supplies first think Monday morning!
How about joining in?

Art

( click on the pictures to enlarge)

Can you guess how these were made?

Ok! Here is the answer: (I added another image that makes things clearer) it's a simple drawing paper, only blue, with tons of children's glitter! We were painting with brushes with my son and he spotted the little jars with glitter in his cupboard -the cheapest material you can imagine. So he took the blue paper, emptied all four little jars on it and mixed everything together with the brush. The smell was so intense I took it out on the balcony 'to dry' I told him, 'to throw away at some point' I thought. I couldn't believe my eyes the following morning when it was all dry and 3-dimentional from the huge amount of paint on it! I'm planning to frame it and put it up in his room.

Thanks for playing along ladies! Some good guesses there!

PS. Note to myself: buy some wooden pegs!

Busy Bee

Grape liqueur

and

tomato sauce

You're more than welcome to join me for some pasta and then a glass of liqueur!

Two Books and a Film

This is a board game. Right? Wrong! Well, partly anyway. It's at the back of an amazing book. The title could be something like '15 happy and crazy stories around the world'. It's a lot of fun and educational, too. The best way to learn some geography!

The illustrations are fabullous!

That's the cover of the Greek edition. I saw it about two years ago and just HAD to buy it for my son. I put it away and now that he's old enough to understand it and learn from it we started reading it. We both love it!!!

I searched and searched the net for a link in English but couldn't find anything. Sorry!

The original (French) title is ..."15 histoires pour les vacances autour du monde". This link is to the Greek publisher.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, I finished reading this book. Finally! It's the first book I've finished this summer!!! Please don't judge me; it's been too hard for me to concentrate and not without a reason. You see, my mum passed away in June after being sick for two and a half years. My family, my friends, blogging and ... this book helped me to focus on the present, so I'll always cherish it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I watched this film last night. I saw it in the past but I was probably too young and ignorant to appreciate it. What great performances, amazing directing... but most of all, the atmosphere created but the fantastic photography and the music...ahhh, the music. I'm still enchanted!!!

Talk to you soon and thanks for your lovely comments.

xxx

Easter book in the middle of August!!!

This is one of the books my son chose for his bedtime reading! So? Who says we must read Christmas books at Christmas and Easter ones at Easter?

After we'd read it, I noticed there was a website at the back. I checked it up the following morning and fell in love with it. Visit it if you have children (or not!) and play the games.

Have Fun!