20 October 2015

Favourite Bits











When my children were much younger and used to share a bath, I'd sit on the hard tiled floor with my back against the radiator and, either before or after 'Cafes', we'd play the 'Ask Me About My Day" game.  It always consisted of the same questions,

"What was your favourite bit today?"

"What was the worst thing about today?"

"What made you laugh today?"

I mentioned it to my daughter and she laughed and then reminded me of the fourth question which I'd forgotten about.

"Who was your best friend today?"

A favourite bit could just be a fleeting snapshot that's away before you know it or, if you're lucky, it could be a lingering and downright delicious stretch of something wonderful.  But, as I always used to tell them, even stinky-horrid days can have favourite bits.

Now that they're 16 and 14, we don't play it any more.  I miss it.  Squeezing any information out of my children now is not unlike getting blood from a stone!

It's half term this week and one of my favourite bits of each day, without fail, is taking my first cup of tea back up to bed and sitting, crocheting.  I always open the window to let the day in and have the radio on quietly.  I absolutely love that precious hour or so.

Another of my favourite bits can be cooking supper.  I say 'can be' because it's not always.  It very much depends on what I'm making or whether we're eating in shifts.  Sometimes though, I really enjoy pouring myself a glass of wine and taking my time peeling, chopping, grating, stirring, seasoning.  I love the challenge of a new recipe and I love the familiarity of a favourite.  I love the windows getting steamed up, the kitchen getting cosy and the delicious smells wafting up through the house drawing the children downstairs like a magnet.

If I am sitting at the kitchen table with my laptop, Bertie will nearly always come and lie in the shaft of sunlight (if there is one) near my feet.  Turning his face up to the sun and soaking up its warmth, he looks as near to 'blissed out' as a spaniel could ever get.  Bless him.

Prompted by my spotting a small silvery moth strolling around in one of my baskets of wool, I had a mammoth yarn sort out and tidy on Saturday.  I bought some cheap plastic drawers from a DIY store and neatly stashed away my precious booty.  My favourite bit of the whole exercise was making pretty labels for the drawers.  Oh how I enjoyed that.  I do so love a bit of whimsy.  

As for today.  My favourite bit might just be what we had for supper.  A warm salad made up of Sunday's refried roast potatoes, crispy pancetta, spring onions, tomatoes and parsley tumbled over spinach, rocket and watercress.  Or it might just be the heavily rose-scented bath I'm running.  I'm feeling chilly tonight, really chilly.  Is there anything nicer than climbing into a hot heady bath when even your bones feel cold?

xxx

25 comments:

  1. I don't normally comment, but really enjoyed this! Loved the pictures and the post 😊 Thank you for sharing x

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  2. This is lovely and the photos are lovely too. It is good to step back and appreciate the small things in life. Thank you Heather xx

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  3. Ooh, love the socks - it looks like "Mind the Gap" yarn, and I'm always impressed with stripes that match :-) xx

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    1. Hello Christine! Well spotted, it is indeed MTG yarn. A lovely friend knitted them for me last year so I can't take any credit at all. Re the stripes, I know, it boggles my mind! I haven't given up on being able to knit my own socks one day so will be treading a frequent path over to your amazing tutorial!!! xx

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  4. What a scrumptious post. You're right about the cooking smells drawing children to the kitchen, works every time! I love the sound of an early morning cup of tea in bed with some crochet. Blissful. Wishing you a good day full of lovely things. CJ xx

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  5. Must play that game with the kids, love the photos.

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  6. Sigh. This is such a feel good post, so it is a contented sigh.
    It makes me want to go and tidy up my house (and gosh, does it need it) and make it 'feel' just like in your stunning photos.
    I'm afraid if I took some crochet back up to bed of a morning, I'd stay there for the rest of the day. Haha.
    Just recently discovered your blog and I like it very much. You have a new follower.
    Patricia xxx...x

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    1. So lovely to 'meet you' Patricia. I must admit, it takes a huge dollop of willpower to get back out again and crack on with the day! Oh and rest assured, there are messy corners I turn a blind eye to, trust me! xx

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  7. Nice post. It's tea and crochet in bed for me too, every day if I can, it's very soothing. Is that a shawl you're making? Looks lovely. Jane x

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  8. So enjoyable to read, a lovely tradition, there are always wonderful things to find if we look hard enough :-) x

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  9. As I am awake at 5am not sure I would cope with crocheting that early. It's usually a cup of tea in bed a bit of reading before I have to get up and greet the world. But I suppose whatever you do in order to relax before the onslaught of the day doesn't really matter although I cannot for the life of me understand people who do a 5-10 mile run of a morning before work. I'd have to go back to bed from the mere thought.

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  10. Oooooh a lovely feel good post. I absolutely LOVE pouring a glass of wine and taking my time making something nice to eat. I usually put on 'Let There Be Love' by Nat King Cole. I don't know why, it's just a wine and cooking kind of song for me. I am SO looking forward to the half term next week, but I'm not so sure how many 'morning teas in bed' I'm going to get. Hopefully at least one! It's actually one of the nicest things in the summer holidays for me, just getting up, making a cuppa, then going back to bed for another hour to crochet, or read books, mags etc. It certainly is good for the soul that's for sure!

    Your images in this post are beautiful and really uplifting on such a rubbish grey, wet day! Thank you my lovely xxxxx

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  11. I think these would have been my favourite bits too.

    Having just fought the dreaded moth here I am looking at those drawers and wondering if I'd have room for some too!

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  12. Such a nice post my dear, love the children's questions, I might try them as it's near impossible to get anything out of mine too. ;) Love the look of the blue shawl/wrap thing, that looks lush. What's that? Or is it a new thing you're working on of your own creation?

    S x

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  13. Fabulous socks! I dread a M getting to my yarn! Or anything I have made. Good idea to get it all organised! xx

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  14. I think that even nicer than a hot bath could be the fireplace crackling , piled under a handmade blanket, crochet hook in hand , cup of tea and a crumbly piece of shortbread. What do you think? bliss .
    Love your socks

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  15. Lovely thinking about all the favourite things. I've never found a moth near any of my yarn - I hope I'm not living in denial!

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  16. When my children were small and shared a bath, I would sit in the bathroom with them, talking to them whilst they splashed and played and x-stitching as fast as I could (I got so little time with it when I had 3 under 5). Eventually the oldest would ask to come out because they were getting wrinkled!!!

    I cannot imagine the indulgence of going back to bed with my crochet and a cuppa - once I'm up, I'm up and going!

    I love your socks. I am on try no. 3 of creating some "artisan" socks for my eldest daughter's boyfriend and it is NOT going well!

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  17. We're thinking of getting rid of our bath (which none of us use much anymore) and going for a really flash shower. But I wonder if I'd miss the option of having a bath, even though I never have one unless I'm staying in a swanky hotel with a claw foot tub, which is like once a decade. But that favourites game - I still do that with my two, but when I'm tucking them in. I love to hear what they say, and love that they always ask me too. Lovely post Heather. xx

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Anyone ever told you that you're a peach? xx

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