Hurray, I have managed to get the younger children to nap at the same time, so have decided to devote half an hour to updating my blog. It feels so lovely to be writing....

So yesterday I was writing about a few things I have enjoyed doing recently. The crafty things I like doing seem to have a common theme - keeping house! I think when you are a stay at home mum you spend so much time looking at the same walls/ floor/ garden that it feels really important to make the space look nice.

I love gardening - mowing, weeding, sewing seeds, even a 5 minute wander round the garden admiring the things that are growing can make me feel happy.

This is a photo I took of a corner of my garden on one of my wanders about a month ago. It was a beautiful sunny morning, the children were playing happily and I had a quick walk round to look at my plants, it's amazing how cheery it can make me feel to see things growing!

When I have bit more time I like to crochet- this is a craft that I learnt recently. I went on a fantastic 3 week course and loved the fact that when I was crocheting I couldn't think about anything else (I'm not very good so a high level of concentration is required!) I have made a couple of cushions and am currently working on a blanket.

These are the cushions, they look lovely if you don't look too closely!! They are displayed on a recent bargain find- an ercol chair that I found in a charity shop for £7! Another thing I love is bargain hunting- in charity shops, antique centre and car boot sales. Then I like to bring the new bargain home and arrange it in the house. At a later date this can provide me with a pleasurable 5 minutes of me time spent admiring the new thing. My husband would question whether we need another new thing but this chair made my week...that week when the children were arguing, or I was feeling bogged down by the continual chores I would stop and look at my chair and smile to myself!

Finally another mini project- my easter egg tree! I kept some sticks when I pruned a tree in the autumn, then sprayed them white and hung some of my eggs from it!

Well, that's a little bit more about me, I'd better go and make some lunch for my lovely children now- yummy salmon, potatoes and veg today.

In the meantime I'd love to hear what you like doing!

Happy me time!

Sam xx