The good things in life...

"When you finally get something good, enjoy it. 

Don't always go looking for something better."

I saw this quote on facebook today and it really struck a chord with me. Many years ago when my eldest, who is now 13, was very tiny. I used to read a cute little book to her. It was about a mouse family who took walks along the sand, swam in the rivers, lived in the country with fields and trees where they made rope swings and went for jogs... you get my drift. When I read it to my little girl, who was then a toddler, I would tell her that one day we'll get to live by the sea and have walks along the sand, be able to climb trees and swim wildly in the sea or rivers. 

A couple of years later, when my daughter was 3 and my, then youngest, was 8mths old, we moved to live near the sea. Unfortunately I had long term postnatal depression that lasted from when my son was born until he was 2 1/2 yrs old so, despite it being exactly what I had wanted for years, it wasn't something that I appreciated fully for a long time.

A lot has changed over the past 10 years that we've been living here. We've had good times and bad times, the last year being one of the worst we've ever had for varying reasons... but all of that has led to something amazing happening. I have felt this on and off for the past few years now, but not as much as I feel it now. I am so so happy in my life right now. So grateful for what I have. I'm approaching 40 and I guess it's a time in my life that I can look at it and see what I've done. I have achieved SO much. Maybe not in the same way that someone else might view achievement. But for me it is all I ever wanted. 

I live in that house by the sea. We have a woodland running along the back of our garden so our view from our decking and our bedroom window is nothing but green trees and an abundance of birds and wildlife. 

We have been lucky enough for a colony of bees to set up a temporary home in our garden 3 years running and a permanent home once. We don't have a lot of flowers in our garden, but we do have lots of green hedges, and I guess that's just something they must like.

 We go for walks along the sand, swim in the sea, the children climb trees and play in the woods. 

We are lucky enough to have made some wonderful friends since we have lived here and my parents and sister also live within walking distance to our house.

I haven't made a huge career for myself but I do what I love. I write. I create. And I surround myself with my beautiful beautiful children. Home educating 2 of them is amazing. In July I will have all 3 of them here with me learning and enjoying life together. We have great plans for the future and we are so excited for what we hope to achieve. Our home, however busy and hectic it gets, is where all our hearts lie. I love my home and have big plans on how to make the spaces within it work better for when we are all here (watch this space).

I was always the one who was "looking for something better". There was always something that I was searching for to make my life complete. But this is it. This is what I dreamed of when I was a child. This is my life. C x

Random Acts of Pefectness!

I've recently been working on something that I'm hoping will help other people keep on top of their perfectionism. As I worked on it, it got me thinking that to feel like you have reached "perfection" it may be worth jotting down some random perfectness from our days.

For example, I've been trying to teach my 3yr old to jump off an object. He can jump on the spot but he won't jump off anything. It's always been something he struggles with so over the half term holiday we concentrated a lot on it. Jumping off steps on to the beach etc. And Wednesday, he jumped off (on numerous occasions) the horse and the beam at his gymnastics class! Very proud mummy moment and a little bit of smug perfectness that I was part of him learning that.

Yesterday, we spent the morning at the beach with a "perfect" blue sky. We enjoyed it so much we almost forgot to go home for lunch!

Today, I wrote an article from beginning to end and was actually happy with it! Another tiny bit of perfectness from my day!

What have been your perfect moments today? (Anything from cleaning the bathroom to show home standards, to having a perfect meal with your loved one). xx

Update on me! Shops and education and various other things!

Wow! What a few months I've had! Such exciting news! I have my crafts stocked in two shops locally to me and I am making sales! Not a huge amount at the moment, but enough to pay the shelf rental so right now that is good enough for me. I am still getting orders trickling in from my facebook pages and my etsy shop so again, all good. I have written several articles and am currently working on a book - details of which will be revealed at a later date!

So all in all I am a happy bunny!

My baby boy is now 3 (yes, THREE!! How did that time go so fast!?) and we are just about embarking on our Early Years Home Educating journey. I know, for some, this is a bit superficial until he turns 5, but to us it is a big deal. Our older children went to school as per "norm" and are still there and him not starting nursery in September is the start of our next chapter and an exciting one at that!

Again, being a perfectionist means that I am constantly battling with myself as to whether our home environment is enriched enough for him to be able to learn properly. However, thankfully, my perfectionism hasn't rubbed off on him and he just plods along in his own way doing what he does without worrying if it's good enough. I am grateful that when I am in "mum" mode, I let go of the perfectionism and allow them to just be themselves - something that I am getting better at every day - so much so that I don't even always THINK perfect thoughts any more, never mind suggest them!

So, you can view my shop at rubysatticuk.etsy.com or on facebook.com/rubysattic  so if you fancy, pop over and say hi! x