I always have such high hopes for holidays. We’ll be able to sleep and recharge our batteries. We’ll spend time outside. There will be time to focus on specific projects…

Well, I figure you can easily guess none of that happened much for us last week. We seem to forget that at least one child has difficulty sleeping away from home and we’re up more frequently than usual (exception being Feather Down Farm last year when everybody slept). It bucketed down with rain for 90% of the time so we had little outdoorsy time. And of course I barely touched the project I had intended to nail.

On the surface of it, our holiday wasn’t a complete success. And yet; we caught up with friends, had time to talk, took walks in our pyjamas and went swimming a whole lot.

I think it takes getting it very wrong to figure out what you need. We are slow holiday folk and no amount of trying to fit ourselves into something different is going to change that.

But even when you take the wrong path, there are interesting things to see along the way. Nothing is wasted.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Monty likes to make himself busy. Busy creating homes for goats, building boats and arranging his collection of muslins into elaborate structures. Busy, busy busy.

Today he laid his muslins out on the floor, arranged the chairs, fetched his accordion and turned to me, “Now I need a hat, Mama.”

Then he busked.

And told the crowd they needed to dig deeper in their pockets.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

The last couple of days have been emotional to say the least. Kat and I are bursting with pride and thanks after all of the lovely comments, tweets, messages and emails we recieved.

I am thrilled to announce the very first Capturing Childhood course Collect the Moments is now open for registration!

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for coming over to find out what my big plans are. Sometimes you have to be brave, take a leap and see where it takes you. And this is where I have landed up, launching my joint venture with Kat Goldin today.

We share a love of photography and recording the fleeting moments of childhood. When we first started talking about this idea the instant excitement which fizzed between us was a clear indicator that we’d hit upon a true passion. Sharing our inspiration with others.

Capturing Childhood is all about creative photography of your family which captures the moment and personality. Our interactive courses will not only support you in developing your photography but will provide a community for you to share with.

There has been a lot of hard work to get us to this point today where I can tell you the Capturing Childhood is out in the world. Registration for Collect the Moments opens tomorrow, Saturday April 28th at 2pm BST for the Summer class beginning 28th May.

I won’t give too much more away here as I want you to head over to the photography eCourse site, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

I really hope to welcome some of you to what I hope will be a bright and inspiring journey. Here’s a taste of what we have planned.

Kat xoxo

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Doesn’t life just catch you like that sometimes? You look around and realise a whole week has passed almost unnoticed.

After I wrote that post last week I breathed a deep sigh of relief. It is so good to voice it and be able to start asking myself how I wanted to make changes.

I made a conscious decision to move from ‘surviving’ with my work to ‘building’ the future I visualise for myself. There may never be a perfect time to make the leap of faith and set up the business I want. So I’m leaping anyhow because if I spend the rest of my life planning and imagining the time will have been and gone. The time is now. Or tomorrow morning to be precise.

I am so excited to share with you what I have planned. I am working with one of my favourite people to create something beautiful that I hope you’ll love. I feel terribly mean teasing you like this. I hope you’ll join me here tomorrow morning for the launch.

As I can’t talk about the oh-so-exciting-but-secret new project I’ll tell you a bit about what I did over the weekend. On Saturday I got up crazy early and jumped on a train to Birmingham for BlogCampUK. This was my third outing to BlogCamp, a series of free day workshops on blogging, and I have to say it was yet another superb event.

My face ached from laughing at Stu Heritage (rule number 1: don’t be a dick), I came away with a whole heap of things to think about from Lee Smallwood and Susannah Conway and I had lots of laughs with my friend Claire.

I love BlogCamp, it’s a hive of ideas and discussion. If you love blogging then I would suggest you sign up to their mailing list for the next event near you. I can honestly say the things I have learned at BlogCamp have made a positive difference to my blog and my business.

One more nugget of wisdom before I head off to make the finishing touches before tomorrow: Beware interesting clouds – they result in long diversions…

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Remember my ranunculus? I’m missing them already.

I find myself here, at this stopping point, every couple of months lately. In need of grounding and to reconnect with my goals.

We still live from day to day, taking all the work we can while keeping our responsibilities going. It is necessary at the moment for us  to be so focussed on our income, no new business will allow you to take your eye off the ball. But boy, is it draining.

This focus on building my income, narrows my sights and I forget what the purpose of my efforts is. The task and the goal get blurred and I put more importance on work than giving energy to my family. And right at that point is where my endeavours lose their significance – if I am not working for them then for what?

There is no easy way to work full time and be a full time childcarer. I sometimes imagine what I would achieve if I had some childcare but of course the whole point of me working from home is that they don’t have to go to someone else for their care.

There are moments when I look at what other people are achieving and I think if only. Fleeting moments because as the breath escapes me the longing is gone and I remember what I’m working for. My greatest achievements.

I am going to bed lighter for voicing that, I am so grateful for this space. This week I am working on a project which is taking lots of my energy so please forgive me if I am a little quiet around here. I’ll be back with some photos and maybe even a recipe or two… Kat xoxo

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Hurrah for April Showers! I know it’s not a popular view but I really do love the rain and we really really need it around here.

We had some rainy afternoons (including a brilliant thunder storm) and rainy afternoons call for something a little extra in the drawing stakes.

A whole afternoon spent creating their paper twins. Bliss.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Nothing compares to the taste of homemade pesto. It has been a staple in our house forever. These days it is starting to feel like a luxury as the price of pine nuts has gone up so much (stop it, I know – listen to me!) but it’s a luxury I’m prepared to shell out for.

I love pesto with farfalle (perhaps a little too much), I often use it on pizza or mixed with some goat’s cheese in tortellini. However you like to enjoy your pesto it will be all the sweeter for making your own.

Homemade Pesto

A large bunch of basil, leaves picked

A handful of pine nuts

A handful of finely grated Parmesan

1 small clove of garlic (or a big one if you love garlic)

The juice of half a lemon

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper to season.

Makes about half a jar, I normally make double this amount.

Keeps in the fridge for a month (the top of the pesto must be covered by oil and the jar sealed) or can be preserved in sterile jars (I leave out the Parmesan to be added before use)

• Heat a wide flat pan on the stove over a medium flame and then scatter in the pine nuts to toast. Give them a jiggle every now and then to turn them about. After a few minutes all sides should be a toasty brown. Turn out into a pestle and mortar, allow to cool a little then grind to a coarse consistency.
• While this is going on: pick your basil leaves, grate your Parmesan, crush the garlic, squeeze the lemon and pop them all in the processor.
• Add in the pine nuts and olive oil then blend until the pesto is how you’d like it (I like quite a fine cut on the herbs, others prefer it more rustic).
• Taste the sauce, season with a little pepper and then either store as above or use right away – the choice is yours!

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

I love how traditions take hold with each year that passes. Without any prompting from us, Milla and Monty have been alive with talk of the annual spring egg hunt for days. And it would be simply impossible to hunt for eggs in the wood without the company of our very best friend Amy who started our tradition.

Not only do we hunt for eggs but Mama frantically tries to take close-ups of the eggs before they are discovered. Those children are fast!

Eventually, baskets full, they retire to a handy den to sit on logs and eat their haul. Chattering all the while about the sneaky chocolate-hiding bunny and sharing their news with one of their special people.

I do so love our little Spring tradition. How do you celebrate the season?

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It seems to have become a little annual tradition around these parts. Spring flowers and a thank you for sending your votes my way.

Each year when I see Housewife Confidential’s name come up in the list of blogs nominated for an award in The MADs I feel overwhelmingly grateful to you, the people who take the time to appreciate it.

Last year so many of you nominated Housewife in the photography category you sent me to the final. It meant a whole lot that so many of you took the time to do that.

Truly, I love sharing this space with you. Housewife Confidential is like no blog I’ve written before because it is while here that I have finally grown into myself; settled down in my heart and found peace with who I am.

Thank you all for coming here to read, share, comment and join us in our little corner of the world.

Kat xoxo

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.