December 1st. Wow! Where has the year gone. I can't believe we are coming to the end of 2008. It has been a difficult one, with many challenges. I felt lost in the muddle of it all at one point but my son, my dad and my beloved helped me through and I feel stronger for it.
Tonight my woodburner is lit and I am catching up with friends . The washing machine is humming and all feels calm and tranquil. I am blessed with a roof over my head and love in my heart. The fire of life is burning well.

I am in the mad throws of decluttering. It's easy to pretend I don't have much stuff. I am moving house next year and setting up home with my beloved so it important to me to chuck out the old and invite in the new. Yesterday was a box of papers from 6 years ago, some of it quite painful to deal with as it evoked a lot of memories. I see this time as positive before my move and sometimes these thing need time to digest, so I grateful I am not having to rush. The local hospice shop is doing well from me too.

It's been a busy week. We have had our first Home Education inspection and it went really well. The Inspector was very impressed with The Goblin and so was I. I am so glad I made the move to teach him at home. I have valued the time we have had together and to learn together. We have both come so far on this journey.

I am a bit behind with the blogging. We had a wonderful few days last week at a family wedding in Devon. The drive down was beautiful and it seemed a million miles away from south east London/Kent. It always shocks me how many people live in such a small space, we seem so hemmed in here. Traffic, noise, pollution, it's constant. The pace of life in the South West really did seem slower. Sadly we are not in a position to move too far at the moment, but hopefully by this time next year we will be in a slightly more rural location with a bigger garden. It's easy to be drawn in to the pace of life in the south east. When I go to London at the weekends for my aromatherapy course I am part of that hustle and bustle myself, I am no better than anyone else. I run for the tube and train with all the pushing and shoving to get a seat or just a spot to stand and I hate it. It's a million miles from home and a billion miles from Devon. I can only live my more authentic life here and learn to be content with my lot at the moment.

A birthday apron

I am very pleased with this apron. It is a birthday present for my partners' daughter. It took a couple of days. The embroidery was the easiest part, although I didn't have the calico straight so it didn't fray evenly. It's reversable with calico too. I plan to do the whole family aprons now!

The sun is trying to peep through this morning and the winds have died down. It is quite peaceful up here on the hill, with a few cars going down. My next door neighbour has just taken her son off to school. She is one of the few mums around here who walks the 10 minute journey, although I am sure with petrol prices going the way they are, many more will have to. When my son was in school we always walked and many times we were late as we stopped to look at things along the way. It gave him some breathing space at the beginning and end of his day and time for us to just 'be'. I love to see families walking with their children, we can learn so much as adults from our childrens questions and from the way they see the world too.

These are the first three blocks of my 'Quilt a long' group with the Creative Living Forum. I have always wanted to make a proper quilt. I did a throw with random squares years ago but never backed or quilted it. With this idea you do a new block every week, 12 in total. I am a bit behind with the others, but am loving it.