Another bits and pieces post from me this week. Things I’m enjoying at the moment: I’m still reading through old Catholic Weekly Pitter Patter columns of mine from 10 or so years ago, because I’m in the process of compiling a book of them all for my mum, and I also want to collect the best for myself.

They make alternatively wonderful and cringe-worthy reading. Wonderful because I’d forgotten lots of little things about what it was like when we were a family of just three, which so quickly swelled to four and then five. It was a magical time in many ways,  though not easy of course. Cringe-worthy because I felt obliged to produce a super-short column every week, including times when I had nothing to say, or not enough time or space to develop a line of thought.

But I never kept a diary, so this is essentially the diary I kept all through that time of early parenthood. It’s interesting to see what has changed since those years, and what’s still the same.

In my little pot garden are radishes growing alongside spinach and nasturtiums, beetroot and lettuce. The thyme is still happy, and the bay and lemon trees. A bunch of tomato seedlings have sprung up on their own while three pink hyacinth bulbs bought on our last nursery visit are coming along nicely.  Last night I made a lamb ragu to go with pasta and I loved being able to go and pick a handful of bay leaves from my tree to stir into the pot. I bought a passionfruit vine on that visit too – not sure why because I’ve got nowhere to grow it. I’ll probably give it to a neighbour.

My sister and brother-in-law are back from their whirlwind European tour which means my Fridays with our youngest won’t involve visiting their pets anymore. The picture at the top of this post is from last week. We’ll probably get back to catching up with friends on Fridays. He starts kindergarten next year but he’s been in preschool or with a babysitters Monday-Thursday so it’s been nice keeping Fridays as our ‘fun days’. I think I’ll try to continue the Friday fun day tradition next year on my own.

We passed the winter solstice yesterday – this is always a relief for me to know that we’ve passed the mid-way point and from now on each day will be a tiny bit longer. Winter is not generally my friend, though having said that, we’re in the middle of a run of relatively warm and sunny days. This is truly a thing to be grateful for!

Today I attended the annual Eucharistic procession at our eldest boy’s school. As he’s making his First Communion this coming Sunday he was allowed to be one of the leaders, which he seemed happy about. But he wasn’t happy that the candle he had to hold as they made their way around the school grounds was a fake one. The picture at the top of this post is of the same spot later in the day – our two littlest boys are barely visible on the play equipment.

What are you enjoying at the moment?