The other love of my life…

Sweet children and dear husband aside, my love of mosaic walks hand in hand with my love of the soil – and for the last few weeks I have been digging, preparing seed beds, sowing and planting every spare minute. We are so fortunate to have two small plots to grow things in. They allow […] Read more...

Make an at-a-glance planner for sowing and planting!

It is our second year of being allotment holders. Any of you who are veg growers will know that its time… Time to get the seed packets out.. To sow… To plan… To plant… So many veggies on our wish list (about 40 to be precise) and being a big urban hippie, we are growing […] Read more...

How to be an urban earth mother – part one

Over the years I have turned into an urban hippy. I didn’t set out to do it –  no master plan. It just happened, slowly, incrementally. In part, it was due to my exposure to the Waldorf-Steiner movement through two sets of good friends whose children went to Steiner schools. My profession – social work […] Read more...

Frolicks in hay bales and glens..

Yes, that has been us in the last two weeks! We started off on the southern most tip of the UK, amongst the hay bales of the beautiful Eweleaze campsite on the Dorset coast and ending up in Scotland, dipping in the North Sea (brrr….!), baking bananas on the beach with the driftwood we gathered […] Read more...

Camping with children – the pros and cons explored…

For those of you new to Glittering Shards, this site explores mosaics, art and soulful, creative living. My blog posts are categorized in this way (see column on the right) and I write them from the heart because these are things that motivate me.   Its true to say that ‘Mosaic Loving’ has featured the most […] Read more...

Waiting, waiting…

  …for spring to come. This week, we have all been struck  by nasty viruses. It is the part of parenthood that nothing can prepare you for – tending to sick children night after night and then getting ill yourselves. It will pass, as sure as spring will come (and funnily, we always get most […] Read more...

Christmas eve traditions…

  This is us today… …inspired by… …we made stringed popcorn and seed-filled pine cones for the birds and animals …and made our way to our lovely allotment …and found the pine tree (which the children have now named Wisley!) to decorate for the birds and animals …because they too need to feast on this […] Read more...

Summer in the City

This week, being a tourist in our beloved London. Houses of Parliament from the Abbey Gardens (free to enter, very quiet and peaceful place) Despite recent events just up the road from us, scary and unnerving, we keep …our eyes locked on the overwhelmingly bigger amount of good (see here and here and here) ..our […] Read more...

Our Father’s Day gift tradition (& our new venture!)

It was a whim of an idea three years ago that is now a solid tradition.  Just before Father’s Day, the kids draw a picture of daddy then I transfer them to a t-shirt. Daddy t-shirt 2011 (kids aged 5 and 4) Yesterday we unveiled Daddy t-shirt Number 3 and he just loves it – […] Read more...