the best bits...

here are some bits of last week....

1. river flooded again
2. thatched roofs
3. winter walks
4. winter blooms
5. winter birthdays 
6. favourite food!! getting plenty of Vitamin D when the suns not out...  mushrooms:) 
7. mail 
8. wool 
9. feeling accomplished ...spin, ply, knit repeat

and another random pic of a future diy I want to make!! we have a vintage fair coming around soon to Oxford and I am hoping to find a suitcase or 2 there and try this out!! Are these cute or what?? 

What have you been up to?? 

A few of my favourite things...

I spent many years living in the drought of Southern California where everything was some shade of dry dirty sandy brown. So can you blame me that it seems everything in my life leans toward the colour of green. Here are some of my favourites right now. Fancy hair plaits, green smoothies, my home spun yarn, and lots of roasted veggies. 

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of!!

~Benjamin Franklin 

Green Smoothie Recipe 

1/2 cup of soaked oats (gluten free)

1 banana 

1 cup of unsweetened almond milk 

1 chopped up apple

1 packet of amazing grass super food

2 handfuls of spinach

1 scoop of protein ( I use Raw Protein)

fill the rest up with cold water 

and blend on high 

*this is vegan and gluten free 

Winter wanderings... Capturing Contentment

When we first arrived it rained constantly and there was flooding through England all the way up to Scotland. But the last 2 weeks it has been rather mild so we have been taking advantage of this weather and going for walks in the afternoon. The sun feels great and you forget how cooped up you get in the winter until you actually get outside and take some nice deep breaths and stretch your legs.

The Thames river is right behind our cottage and we follow a footpath that goes through our village and past some old ruins of an ancient nunnery and then back along the river again. 

This is really a fulfilling walk you get old trees, and pretty views. On the other side of the river is a huge pasture where the local horses live and you can walk around in there and visit with them.

I remember fondly spending hours outside in the winter playing when I was a child. This week I am thankful I remembered to act like a child again and throw on some extra layers and explore without a destination.  And guess what I  remembered how to romp around in the woods, find that perfect walking stick, get a little muddy and forget about the time for a little bit. 

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.

~Albert Camus 

Joining with Like Mother, Like Daughter  on this post ~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~Every Thursday

Across the pond...

Well this post has been a long time coming. With the holidays, moving to a new country, not having internet, jet-lag and all the sorts of life things like that my blogging fell to the bottom of the barrel. But I am happy to report we are getting all sorted out and settled in. 

First let me comment on the move itself. This was by far one of the hardest moves we ever had to make. We really are still adjusting to all the changes that took place. This move caught us by surprise I don't think we had realised how rooted we had become in San Diego. This move included a lifestyle change, leaving friends and our church behind, being separated from our son in college, and getting used to a foreign country. 

We first thought this move would be easier if we kept our house in California and just moved with our clothes and some of our belongings. But that didn't quite work out how we expected. Not having our stuff with us was difficult for many reasons none of them having to do with being materialistic. But more along the lines of needing regular household items and just not having them. Say like a coffee maker which we still haven't bought yet. And then of course for Anna and I we did not think to much about our hobbies and so having left a lot of our craft stuff behind we have really been trying to improvise. Oh and did I mention I don't have a car here. 

So yeah there have been some pretty big changes it has been a little bumpy of a start. And we are slowly warming up to living over here. Although warming up being a figure of speak because really it's quite cold and rainy all the time. 

We had such a fabulous time in Scotland over New Years at Hogmanay and I will post some pictures of that in a later post. That was a bucket list item every one should have. 

For now I will give you a few snap shots of what we have been up to.

Smoothies, french braids, knitting, walking the countryside, homeschooling, tea & biscuits, and British T.V.  And we found a new church to call home. That sums up this year so far. 

I am doing a bible study right now called Resolution For Women by Priscilla Shirer and one of the first resolutions goes like this....

I do solemnly resolve to embrace my current season of life and will maximise my time in it. I will resist the urge to hurry through or circumvent any portion of my journey but will live with a spirit of containment. 

So let me be transparent for a moment that's where I am at.
 Humbly trying to embrace this new season. Not trying to rush through it and not trying to hide from it either. Embracing where it brings me and enjoying where I am at. 

Happy New Year!! 

Here we go again.....

I am not sure exactly what it is about my husbands job that makes this happen but it seems always near the 3 year mark a move is in the forecast. Yesterday as I was at the Veterinarians office getting 2 of our dogs ready for another move our Vet commented and said it had been 4 years. That's almost a record. Alaska still holds the title though for our longest stay. 

So here we go, The Watts are moving again. So far we have it planned to be gone for a year but you just never know so we shall see what happens from here. This move will be really different for us now that our kids are getting older.  Noah my oldest will be staying behind and continuing at college. He is busily into his second year now and is working towards the long term goal of becoming an Equine Veterinarian.

Our other 2 kids will be coming along on this move. Although we are still working out lots of details. I think this has been the most complicated move yet. Our middle son graduates this year. If senior year isn't busy enough try sorting out a move right smack dab in the middle of it to another country nontheless. 

The last few weeks have been a whirl-wind sorting out the ranch and getting ready. Hence the lack of blogging posts sorry for the lack of action over here it has all been behind the scenes work. It is really funny how life catches up with you sometimes. Or maybe life runs ahead of you would be a better way to describe it. Thankfully finding homes for all our ranch animals went really well, and much quicker than I expected. And I was really happy with the homes we found and the people that they went with. I was particularly happy that a friend from church now has my horse. It makes it easier when you know you can still visit your furry friends and keep in touch. And I even made some new friends in the process of all that. 

But wait I haven't even said where we are moving to this time. It will be another overseas trip for us. We are moving to England. We have rented out a very cute little thatched roof cottage in a village that has like 100 people. This should prove to be a very fun and memorable adventure. The weather in Southern California has been so hot we are all super excited about the cooler temps and have been very busy digging out sweaters and socks from the back of our closets. 

Having grown up in a common wealth country I am really looking forward to this. It reminds me of Canada which really gives me that nostalgia feel of home. I have been over to England a few times now and I really like it. I am hoping it will give our family a chance to slow down and enjoy life at a different pace.

My husband has been working overseas for months now and the separation has been really hard on all of us. We are all very eager to get under the same roof again. I have found that through this experience and the separation my priorities have really shifted. I am feeling like things that were important to me before just don't matter as much anymore. And for me that has been a great change! Change is not easy and having moved as much as I have you would think that I could just roll right with it. But I am here to say honestly I am never that graceful about it. This time grasping the idea of moving again was a little rocky for me at first and hard to wrap my head around, but overall it has been a good thing. It really got me out of the clouds and focused back on whats important in life. Rather than being stuck on a place or things I would much rather be stuck to the people I love in my life. Home is where the heart is. 

So here we go again!! 

Just when I think I have learned the way to live, Life Changes 

~Hugh Prather