Catching up...

For this post I am imagining that you and I are having a chat over a cup of tea and a biscuit. As this is an English winter it is probably a bit chilly outside but the sun is shining. (Now you will need your imagination!)

So what has been happening in the Calmly Creative household over the last few months?

DS is still very much into wildlife photography. We were very excited and proud when he won "Young Photographer of the Year 2013" at a local country park with this photo:

Speckled wood butterfly

He was very keen on buying a new "bridge" camera which is somewhere between a point-and-shoot and an all-singing, all-dancing SLR camera. For six months he saved up his pocket money and drooled over camera web-sites. His 11th birthday was two days before Christmas, so we broke a cardinal rule and gave him a joint birthday and Christmas present. I really wish I had recorded the moment on Christmas morning when he unwrapped his new camera; it was very special.

Since Christmas he often has his camera trained on the bird feeders, and he has taken some lovely shots. He has started his own private wildlife blog, but hopefully he will let me share some of them with you!

DS is still waiting to be assessed for Autistic Spectrum Disorder. It has been quite difficult for the whole family to watch his struggles, but we are all learning to cope. On the other hand, DH has thrived since his diagnosis of ASD. He is on some very helpful medication and is on a much more even keel.

DD is in the throes of choosing her GCSEs, which are the examinations English children take at 16. She has a core of compulsory subjects, (English, Maths, Science), and then she can select from a variety of subjects. It is very hard to make such important decisions at 13 as whatever decision you make, you are closing down a number of future pathways. At the moment she wants to follow a career in design and so is making appropriate decisions. 

DD is also starting her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, which involves volunteering, learning a new skill, a physical activity and participating in an overnight group expedition. I was very pleased when she chose baking as her skill! She decorated DS's birthday cake, (with a little help from her mother!):

And what about me? I have been re-evaluating my life and my many and varied roles. I have been going to visit a very wise friend who gives me coffee and lets me talk. We crochet together and somehow things fall into in perspective. I am still mulling things over; no big decisions made yet!

It has been fairly quiet on the creative front, but I am starting to change that. I have discovered that creativity is important to me, so I need to make time for it. I have several projects on the go, and a stash of yarn which seems to multiply when I am not watching! So, no craft shops for me, but plenty of finished projects. Here's hoping, anyway!