The word ‘December’ is enough to send pulses racing in our house so it’s no surprise to learn that we currently have two children literally bouncing off the walls! The decorations have been plucked from the loft and the tree is just days away from being bought and plonked in our lounge. We have made the first obligatory trip to see Father Christmas which I noticed was met with some degree of suspicion by Martha. She’s been here before that one, make no mistake. All I could think was “just don’t grab the beard, please don’t!”
The Christmas lists are being checked and double checked..
Growing up we never decorated our Christmas tree until mid-December at the earliest. It was simply THE best day of the year, better than Christmas day itself! I loved standing at the foot of the stairs watching dad wrestle with the familiar dog-eared box full of ancient decorations. They were like old friends who we really could not wait to see! The smell and touch of the tinsel and its balding bits with last year’s sellotape still attached, sent my stomach in a spin. I loved digging out the several-times-repaired concertinaed golden ‘thingy’ that mum would stretch from one corner..
November means two things to me. Bonfire Night and Christmas shopping. The two couldn’t be more different. The first is all about unmaterialistic innocence. Warming hands by the fire clothed in woollies and wellies, sharing a hot pot whilst oohing and ahhing over a few dodgy fireworks.
The second sees more money changing hands than the Las Vegas Strip – on a good day. Shops are packed to the rafters, all car parks overflowing and there are more bag swinging injuries to small children than A&E can cope with.
It’s no wonder so many people choose to shop online these d..
Why couldn’t Dracula’s wife get to sleep? Because of his coffin. Monster’s eyeballs! It’s almost Halloween!
“Half term, ooohh, how nice it will be to have a few lazy mornings in bed”, I mused. What a treat not to have to run around at the last minute, up and down the stairs 150 times as I repeatedly forget what I’ve gone upstairs, or indeed back downstairs, for. It was a nice idea. However, thanks to those pesky clocks the children were up with the lark and dragged me along with them.
And there’s me thinking these winter days are supposed to be shorter…
At least I..
These days, Halloween is an all-singing all-dancing affair with everyone getting in on the act. It’s now the norm to see supermarket aisles jammed with fantastical gruesome costumes and plastic pumpkins. Even the estate agents down the road has taken to stringing cobwebs up in the window. To what end I’m not sure. The world’s gone mad.
As I plucked a bright green wig from the supermarket shelf for my daughter, I thought about how delighted I would have been to possess such an item. I pondered what Halloween was like for me as a child.
1. Pumpkins? Not for us. We ..
Things have been hectic here at Little Lucy Willow HQ. We have been quite the removal men. After much planning, huffing and puffing, our Heskin showroom now boasts a beautiful gift shop filled with all things adorable, should you care to come and have a look. And our new range ofchildren’s jewellery has added some lovely sparkle too.
I have already earmarked the gold plated bumblebee necklace for my niece and have squirrelled away a couple of the silver plated ballet shoe necklaces for my own dear daughters. The trouble is, I can see myself wearing much of th..
Yet another glorious weekend! Having spent a few hours tittivating our Heskin showroom and gift shop, we decided to make the most of it and get out and about for a few lungfuls of fresh autumn air.
Our first stop was the woods. Armed with a bundle of sturdy carrier bags we set off in search of conkers. I was feeling quite smug having noticed a few of the shiny nuggets on the ground a week or so previously. As though I was harbouring nature’s great secret of early conker droppage, I even tried to hide our carrier bags from passers-by should they realise our mission and get ..
Anyone reading this of a certain age will instantly recognise this design as a standard school desk used for many years throughout the UK. In some ways it shouldn’t qualify as a classic design, if function is more important than form in your own interpretation of good design – for in practice it was an awkward piece of furniture to use. That being said, this desk made the most of its available footprint a long time before Ikea introduced the world to compact living.
The desk’s measurements were very modest, allowing just enough working surface for a small writing ..
My daughter asked me a killer question recently.
“Mummy, did you live in the past?” My answer was “yes” because we all lived in the past, even five year-olds. Following that I had to verify that the question was “did” and not “do” because if it was the latter, then I would have two problems on my hands.
1. A deep thinking, highly sensitive daughter who has noticed my overly-nostalgic
tendencies and is worried about my mental wellbeing.
2. I have noticeably over-nostalgic tendencies that cause even five year-olds to worry about my mental wellbeing.
So when she fol..
Today we are talking toys. Which traditional toy would today’s young gaming fanatics still want to steal from their siblings? Which toy would prompt any parent to say “come here, I’ll show you how to do it”, despite the fact their children can do it perfectly well by themselves?
We’ve come to the decision the ancient spinning top is a very good candidate. I mean, who could resist a quick go of this gorgeous Linley Silver Spinning Top? Certainly not me.
..
