Rosy cheeked children and building dens

Today has been glorious for late October. A chilly wind but so warm in the sun. We took the children to the country park at lunchtime.
After a brief picnic eaten on the hoof by the two boys and two girls it was down to the serious business of collecting sticks and building dens in the trees. Royal Victoria Country Park (or Victoria as we know it) has some beautiful huge evergreen oaks with branches that come right down to the ground and, as the name would suggest, all year round foliage. Plenty of cover for aspiring housebuilders.

Conveniently enough, there was a bench in the sun for us Mums.

There was lots of healthy boy vs girl competition and remarkably little wingeing, arguing or fighting.
We got there at 12ish and left at 4.45pm. Apart from popping back to us mums to touch base, ask for the loo or obtain refreshment we hardly saw them :o)

They went to bed rosy cheeked, exhausted and happy to have been with good friends just being children doing what children do.

I opted to go cameraless so I'm afraid no photos of the outdoorsy goodness today.

K and I have known each other since Monster was 6 weeks old and her boy was 16 weeks - nearly 8 years. Our girls were born 2 weeks apart. We went through breast feeding, weaning, sleepless nights and then morning sickness and second births together.

We had lost touch briefly as the children attend different schools - only 1 mile apart! We met again earlier this year when my parents were down here visiting for the last time - about 6 weeks before Mum died. K lost her Dad last October - a year at the end of this week.
Isn't it amazing when you can pick up a friendship again and find you have so much in common. No recriminations for having lost touch but a gentle understanding that sometimes life gets in the way.

She understands that I want to bake and sew and knit and crochet and ignore housework and ironing. She had to apologise to the tumble drier repair man just last week when he found her in floods of tears amid a vinegary fog because he had caught her in the middle of making pickled onions!!! I know she understands when I say I want to grow my own veg and keep chickens.

Just this week she has got a Moog of her own, albeit a newer and less curly model.

We can empathise with each other when the children become a little 'difficult' or when we feel we can't cope. We can laugh with each other over the barmy things we do.

I've found this same sort of understanding and acceptance since I started my blog. It blows my mind to think of like minded people both close to home and thousands of miles away reading my ramblings - even more so when you leave comments :o)

Here's a bit of good stuff I found in blogland:

Children growing out of their favourite t-shirts too fast? Go and see this great tutorial at Betz White's - you'll be rummaging in their cupboards for t's to refashion before you know it!

You have to see this lovely farm playmat that Sooz has made - things like this could make me broody!!

Sorry for the lack of visual stimuli today. I do promise more photos tomorrow for any visual learners (like me!) out there.

BTW - I'm not really going to make a granny square skirt or rippled boots and despite my sarcastic under(over?)tones I do actually love that book.
It has given me a crumb of an idea though. How about everyone out there reproduces something from a truly 70's or early 80's pattern - we could have 'World Wear What You Would Have Worn if You'd Been a Crafty Blogger 30 Years Ago Day' - right, where have I put those American Tan tights? ....