Well, it’s been a cold and blustery couple of weeks thanks to Storm Eunice. As a working mum, I’ve found myself kid-locked during this half-term.
Three Children. Add in miserable weather. Not exactly conducive to running a business. However, I have a fabulous team behind me and buckets of gumption to get me through. Oh and Tim. I suppose he does help a bit.
That said, I have enjoyed some wonderful mother daughter time this week! My Evoline and I spent Wednesday afternoon of this week enraptured in some fun with plaster. I introduced my little one to the magical art of flower plaster casts.
We had spent the morning collecting snowdrops in Auckland Park, enjoying the bright heatless sun. Callum attempted to pick some accompanying leaves but ended up grappling with a nettle. Cue me wading through grass looking for a dock leaf as my child wails loudly to passers-by.
Dock leaf found, the troops and I all trudge back to camp Arnold to finally put the mornings findings to good use. Each of us had our own pancake of clay to use and the assortment of flowers and leaves where dumped ever so ceremoniously in the middle of the table.
We began to press the tightly sealed buds and fly-away petals and of course the freshly picked bunch that we had acquired earlier on. Evoline more than anyone was so engaged with the process. She laid her flowers, changing the pattern a few times, her little head tilted in concentration. She would have the flowers all arranged perfectly, stand back to view her creation, before shaking her head and starting over.
When, at long last the flowers were all in their places, she was contented as she started rolling them flat. Callum on the other hand was sickened off by plants after this morning’s sting and had resorted to putting grass in Iona’s hair and telling her there were spiders in it. How lovely!
He was much more excited however, when it came to pouring the plaster over their creations. Though Evoline poured hers gently, not spilling a drop, plaster did end up sloshing everywhere. I’m so relieved that I had the maternal foresight to put newspaper down before getting started.
After succeeding in making a complete mess, we went upstairs to get hosed down while our artwork dried. I hope you enjoy these photos of our little family workshop. Time like this is so invaluable. For all the mishaps and mess, I wouldn’t trade it for the world!
Gillian
