The best laid plans of mums and boys...

We'd planned a little daytrip today, as Ben is at his parents' house - just mum and the boys heading out the historic town of Auch, which is holding a Vide Greniers today, with a visit to the cinema to see La-haut! (the film Up!) in the afternoon.But Son 1's evening cough has turned just too grotty and he's been slightly weak and feverish over the last two days, so the trip is not to be. Our priority has got to be getting him fit for our camping trip, beginning on Monday. Thus we've had another day of pottering around at home, getting camping stuff ready, and doing other little things.
I used my new iron for the first time, having knocked the old one off the board (grrrr). The boys think this one is very futuristic, and are most impressed.
I ironed and needed to re-thread this sweet old drawstring bag. It was given to one of the boys as part of the ongoing Babies Need Books project - nice memories for us of our time in North Tyneside. I'm going to use it to store cooking utensils for camping. I tried threading it with this widget which had come in a job lot of sewing equipment from a Vide Greniers, but the space was too narrow - I guess this was for threading elastic in bloomers, given the number of bloomers one sees at VGs!
A bit of other ironing included one of my favourite thrifted pillowcases which has been acting as a cushion cover all summer. See the neat little hole? Apparantly Son 1 gnawed it in a fit of temper! I know you hear all the lovely stuff about them, but make no mistake, they gnaw cushions! (Once and once only, I have to say...)
It seems the perfect place to put Sarah's crocheted flower - covering up a multitude of sins, there - thanks, Sarah!
I've been having a look at this book, borrowed from my mum. A bit high-level for me, but still interesting.
The August edition of Avantages has a craft section dedicated entirely to recup!
I can't decide if I like this way to re-use dull old doillies (obviously I'd never use good ones) or if I hate it. What do you think?
There's also a section on turning old bedding into new, re-using the embroidery on new duvet covers and pillowcases. I think I like this picture best...
The boys have the weekend off from their holiday work. At first I was horrified by the way the French all go for this kind of 'keep your child working over the hols' thing - I don't approve of the equivalents in the UK, preferring to see children doing craft, enjoying outdoor activities and reading, as I know most blogger's offspring are doing in the summer hols. However, I quickly began to see why the French go for structured revision books - we really do have very long holidays, and the educational system is much more based on regular revision of rote learning - woe betide the children who knew it once but have forgotten it! Thus, especially as French is their second language, I do like to see the boys working through these books. Now that they are quite independent in their homework, it also gives me a chance to see how they approach a task, and help them to learn some good working techniques. Ahh, the teacher will out...
The teacher herself has finished 'I Capture the Castle' and loved it! (I stayed up far too late last night to get through it.) If you have not read this book, I seriously recommend it. I loved both One Hundred and One Dalmations and its sequel The Starlight Barking when I was a child, and the author of all three books, Dodie Smith, turns out to be a superb writer from an adult's point of view, too.
And now back to work. The camping stuff is mostly packed, and stored in our spare room, but there are always more things to find, and I can get going on the dry foods and the clothes, although the boys always pack their own now (sometimes leading to nasty surprises on arrival, I have to admit).
This is our spare room at the moment - I'll go and fill it some more.
We will have someone looking after the house, garden and cat when we go off, but this time (and for the first time) Raja will be coming on holiday with us! Wish us luck...