bigbucketgirl

'getting rid of the clutter' books

Long, long ago I read somewhere... that instead of keeping  magazines once you have read them they should be instantly recycled and free you from the clutter. Ouch. I couldn't do that. Recycled seemed a very final, mushed wet paper sort of word..and I liked my magazines. A voracious appetite for house/lifestyle/cookery/gardening magazines meant however, that I was running out of living space. They were under the bed, beside the bed, in the bed. Downstairs, under the stairs and on the stairs. DH would nag at me to get rid or he'd move out! Luckily I had realised that there were only a few pieces in each magazine that i liked and began to see the light! There was no time to grab a scissors(and the control freak/perfectionist in me would have meant I never finished the job) so I lunged at the nearest pile and began ripping out the articles, images and very importantly..the text that I loved. It was incredibly liberating! As I remember it..it was gale force rain and winds outside but i braved the elements and walked to town to buy an old fashioned scrapbook to stick them all in.

Thankfully I was able to buy one and not lose any momentum! As soon as I got home i stuck them in and the fun hasn't stopped yet! I thought I'd share these pictures now i can upload them so quickly(!) and because I read that this lady has been doing the same thing.

They are a  mix of interiors/accessories/art with children and animals thrown in. This one was stuck firmly in as one of my favourite images before we had our children.

Three children in wellies. Perfect. Who was to really know that we would have three children who love the outdoors and their wellies. Boy, girl, boy so a little different from the picture...but hey! these books are for the inspiration!

I have to cover the fronts and backs of the scrapbooks aswell....just because.

I love to stick odd words and phrases together. The phrase on the third photo sort of grew into "create a sanctuary mad laughing woman". That should be my motto. DH would wholly agree with the 'mad' part and cannot for one second fathom what on earth I get from doing these books. He'd like to be able to say he's happy that there's more space now but er...I'm sure he'll come to love the pile of vintage velvets that haven't got a proper home at the moment!

Apologies if this is a long post for you...once I opened those books I wanted to photograph them all!

There are a few pages that I have put into shadow boxes and put on the wall, and a couple of the texts have been incorporated into a series of prints that I'm working on. I've set up an Etsy shop and hope to be able to offer them for sale soon. DH thinks I'm insane. "Are there other people like you?" he asks.

Book bounty!

Thank heavens for charity shops. Today I searched for just the right book. Not any book would do. It was for DS#1. He loves books but it is so rare for him to choose one to look at, let alone one to read. We believe him to be dyslexic. We have diagnosed him ourselves(!) which I realise may sound bizarre and out of the ordinary but we are waiting, and waiting for the school to have him seen by the dyslexia expert.  There was a meeting back in March about his 'special needs' but we aren't really any further forward in their eyes. At home we are living day to day with this little man being frustrated beyond belief. He comes home shattered and exhausted from trying to keep up with the pace and format of the classroom.

Tears are part of the evening routine and it quite literally breaks my heart. Well, I guess it truly breaks when he calls himself 'dumb' and 'stupid'. When he goes to bed looking like he's got he weight of the world on his shoulders, I get angry. With the system. With the timescales.

Still, I have another batch of forms to hand in tomorrow and then we should get a date of when he can be seen. There is a space on a form for parents to fill in, an A4 sheet overall but the box to write in is about 3inches deep. At the last count I have filled in that box..and added 4 sheets of typed(text size 12) additional information. I realise that he wont be diagnosed on the form alone but I need the woman to know we know whats going on! (Does that make sense?)

At the moment he's in Year 3(he's 8) and we'd love this sorted in time for September. A new start. Its not quite a clean slate because its a small school and every child knows every other child. Until I stood my ground, and fought his corner like a screaming banshee, he had developed a reputation for being the class clown and the naughty one. When all this happened last year, the teacher was so inexperienced that she failed, FAILED to acknowledge what was going on. I know thats easy to say from outside the classroom but its also my job! I'm on adoption leave at the moment, but I have spent my career working with children with a broad spectrum of learning styles(not difficulties?!) achieving their targets and having a lot of fun along the way.

It made my blood boil when I had to point out that the disruptive(no disputing that) and rude behaviour from DS#1 came at times in the class when he was expected to read aloud, say times tables or write on the big white board for the rest of the class to see! I realise that I may be more in tune with recognising these blatant episodes than the bloke on the street, but he's not being taught by him!

The school were initially hankering towards having him assessed for ADHD or ADD but I put my foot down(stamped hard) and negotiated that we wait for the dyslexia diagnosis first because I think his ADD style behaviour comes as a direct result of being dyslexic and finding ways to avoid doing what he can't do. What irritates me is that the special needs co ordinator and the literacy support worker both had DS#1 down as a very intelligent, funny, sparky boy but all the dyslexic characteristics that he shows...they put down to him being a boy(duh) and immature. That was the point when I could have burst into tears but went on to describe through gnashing teeth that we didn't feel that was the case and had they considered x, y and z. The room fell silent and you could hear the pennies dropping. "Oh yes, he does do that", "Come to think of it..." At the end of the meeting they had all agreed that he should be assessed. Finally.

Oh yes, and when I sat him down and talked about what was happening, and how peoples brains can be wired differently, and what was easy for one was never going to be easy for all etc.etc. he turned and with the biggest relief fell into my arms and said "Mumma, I can't help it but the letters crawl" (Me = SOB, SOB,SOB) It appears that certain letters move on the paper for him. He couldn't bear to tell anyone before because he thought it was his fault or that he needed glasses. Poor little man.

So, I'm trawling through blogs with a cold lager, whiling away some time before I go to bed and lie awake thinking about the meeting tomorrow. I'm not worried. No chance. Except for the bit where I turn savage and attack the teachers for not 'getting' my little man. He's only 8. Labelling children can be a good thing i think, if it means that staff think twice, or approach work differently for them then it can be positive. I don't see labels as lead weights that hold them down or deny them anything. My little man will fly as high as his dreams.

The dreams tonight are filled with Tom Sawyer and Injun Joe. I loved watching a TV series of them when I was younger and this copy of the story has the illustrations I adore for boys story books. DS#1 has taken it to bed and thinks he will read it over the summer. Score!

The photos won't upload. I'm going to ask Manda what she bribes TypePad with to make hers look so bloody tidy. I'm sure they hear me coming, perhaps my modem shouts that I'm on my way...and typepad just refuses to play ball.

So once again..you're going to have to put up with me posting from Flickr. I'll do that now and then come back to publish this. I promise. I can't got o bed yet..I haven't been to see Sarah yet! Can't do a day without checking on her. I'd go mad.

Tom Sawyer

Tom Sawyer, originally uploaded by big_bucket_girl.

Breakfast book.

My almost daily tour of our charity shops(because you never know!?) leads me to find wonderful old books that my kids adore. I couldn't leave this on the shelf....

It has stunning illustrations....

and simple enough texts. I've been reading 'a creature a day' to the kids while they eat their porridge. They've asked me to keepan eye out for more of the same series!

After hearing about the squirrels, our school run in the morning has become a squirrel hunt! Binoculars at the ready...because you never know!

Encyclopedia of Embroidery

encyclopedia of embroidery, originally uploaded by big_bucket_girl.

A wondrous charity shop find that I read, photographed and then promptly 'lost' in a WIP basket! Gladly rediscovered tonight. Hot orange squash, hot water bottle and this perfect bedtime reading. Lovely.

How to Make and dress a doll

dress a doll, originally uploaded by big_bucket_girl.

FOR 10p. Is that a vintage bargain or what? It's a lovely book that screams and yells simplicity with adorable results. The simple-ness(?) can of course be embellished etc. but I'm so excited to use this with the kids. Their imaginations can re-design the dolls for themselves. There are no hints of Disney characters or stereotyped folk tales. I like that.

Still posting from Flickr so that's why the three photos are separate.
HAve a happy day doing whatever you're doing. We're off to take DS to play rugby and get muddied from head to foot (love it) butI'm taking DD for a detour through a xmas craft fair on the way. What will we find...?

The basic doll.

simple doll2, originally uploaded by big_bucket_girl.

How simple. LOVING it! Black and white photographs allow me to dream new colour combinations straight away!

Outfits!

simple doll3, originally uploaded by big_bucket_girl.

Can't help but love these.
I'm looking forward to using some of my buckets of stash to make the clothes. DD will no doubt invent some very special places for these characters to attend in their new finery!

Robin hood (School walk 4)

robin hood, originally uploaded by big_bucket_girl.

This was a wonderful charity shop find on Monday for a mere 20p! It's the favourite story of the moment here and Saturday nights are spent watching the 'hero' on BBC. Despite the awful reviews and some mediocre acting..what better TV for a 5 and 7yr old on a Saturday night! We watch as a family of four all snuggled on the settee. The woods on the way to school aren't big enough to house Robin and his men but further along, on the walk home when we're not on a mission(!) we can go to the bigger end of the wood. I still can't let the kids call it a forest(!) but we do go regularly to the Forestry proper(!) to look for deer. (DH hoping as I type that we haven't missed the annual deer cull and subsequent sale of venison. As a vegetarian this DOES NOT appeal to ME!).
The kids imaginations are not stifled by mere 'woods' and so the scenarios for Robin role play are intricate, energetic, and often hilarious. DD is definitely a merry man not Maid Marian. Even though DD likes the costumes etc. the thought of kissing Robin doesn't appeal to her at all! Now if it was the chance to kiss Kevin Costner as Robin then I wouldn't say no!

So, this is the last school walk post and I'd better go and check the blog to see if it works! Then I'm off again to the fridge to top up my chilled Chilean white(!) and I'm off to Manda at Treefall to see what she's been up to...