Travelling On

SuperSecretSquirrel

Ours had (actually still have) a small raised sand and water play table with a lid. We just call it a sand pit... They couldn't sit in the sand, cats not a concern, etc, and not too messy. Get the table out of the shed, play for a while, pack it away again when done. It also costs very little to fill and top up with play sand! Maybe an idea if grandma is keen on a sandpit but mum and dad less so 🙂

As for the paddling pool, of course very young children, paddling pools, and blinking don't really mix. Not a problem if mum or dad is an overgrown child and happy to sit in the paddling pool too, any excuse in my case 😁 Simply drain it once done to avoid any possibility of disaster. Ours still don't get to play in the paddling pool unsupervised, and one is a reasonable swimmer by now, the other is getting there... I'll never forget my grandmother explaining to me when I was very young that it's possible to drown in a half filled washing up bowl of water, that has always stuck with me. Between that, and the knowledge that small children are like lemmings that seemingly actively try to harm themselves when given any tiny opportunity to do so (I know lemmings aren't really suicidal, but I have my suspicions regards small humans 😅) means eagle eyed supervision is a must, but when isn't that the case when they are tiny? Also paddling pool play, much like a sandpit, doesn't have to involve filling a big pool to the brim and sitting in it, toy ducks and the like are perfectly happy bobbing along in a small amount of water, and small children can splash and play from outside the pool, which doesn't really have to be a pool, a reasonable sized container (like an outgrown baby bath perhaps) does the job perfectly well. Just some ideas that you might (or might not) like to pass on 🙂

Edit: starnac, yes, the ball pit balls! We had literally thousands of the damn things! The great thing about those in a paddling pool (without water) is it's a good non-summer play inside option too - if you have enough space in your house inflate the pool inside and fill with those balls 😁 One excellent thing about them is once outgrown you can wash them and pass them on, they are practically indestructible, so although heavy on the plastic it's fairly guilt free. We never had any trouble finding fun stuff to do in the summer months, it's the colder times of year we've always struggled with so a ball pit was a godsend back then.

Karmacat

There are some idyllic play suggestions here   I remember that we had sand in our back yard when I was 4 or so - it *was* a yard, and I've just had a look at the only pic we have of it - it looks like it was in a vegetable crate 🤣 and the sand, in a plastic bag, was dug up from the Mersey shore.  It was like a magnet to us 🤣

Anyway, sister is off there for her normal Wednesday caring duties, so I'll get an update on Thursday   I've had a proper walk this afternoon, and cooked a Jamie Oliver "eggless cake", but not much else.  Mad Cat was in the garden, so I thought the foxes had gone, but they hadn't.  I frightened the life out of them then, but they were back in an hour 🌞

Karmacat

Flaming June 🌞🤣

Well I never.  Not particularly flaming around here, but good enough.  I now have my glasses from Vision Express, plus some flat leather sandals from M&S - rather than use plastic - and I have A Grand Plan.  Not moving house, is the basis of it - I was exhausted and stressed beyond belief by the shopping yesterday, then there was a local NextDoor thread about barking dogs - half a dozen round here, I knew the addresses and they weren't "mine".  So although I don't like it, I'm here to stay, I'm not wasting any more energy on it: moving house is a very uncertain way of dealing with the problem here.

So, finding a way forward from here:
1. social: it happens that I already have one social thing a week booked already for June, which is great.  There's also my sister, of course, so that will be great.
2. the house: the house still needs improving for me to be comfortable living here, mostly about cleaning that I skimped on while I was ill, but a few bits of DIY as well. I've listed a dozen jobs, and I could actually do most of one today - get the sofa going.
3. research both driving lessons and buying a car.  And then use it!

There are hobbies of mine, of course, and hopefully some holidays, and I'll grab anything that comes along for those.  But the three items above are the essentials.

starnac

Sometimes making the decision takes the stress away. I hope everything eases for you now you have made the decision to stay. 

You are on such a roll with cleaning and sorting your house, you'll get it done in no time. 

beanielou

Happy new sandals.

I find the 15 minute timer really helps with household tasks.

Karmacat

Morning all!  My list has 14 items on, and the first one is ticked off, the sofa, ta-da!  On the left, Turkish textiles bought in Turkey and the UK.  On the right, handsewn pieces by my mum and my sister (sister left lots of space for me to put my own stars on the cushion, they're all family fabrics).

rtandon27

Lovely KC! Start of  great tada list!

Watty1

Love the sofa mix of sentiment and joy. Nice

SuperSecretSquirrel

Well done KC, good to get that job ticked off! I think you did the right thing going for a simple sofa design and jazzing it up with your own accessories, it looks great 🙂

themadvix

Well done, it looks great!