"Be Excellent to each other, and Party on Dudes!"

Day 8:

It will no doubt be one of the weirdest birthdays that Opeie is going to experience with everything that's going on in the world at the moment but I wanted him to feel just as special when he woke up this morning. Its crazy that 9 years have flown by this quickly and although I clearly didn't envision us spending it in isolation, he's had a pretty lovely day. Despite the current situation the only thing that was missing was him being able to spend it with his friends. As I write this though I can hear him downstairs playing online with his besties, So I'm pretty thankful for technology today.

Also I'm looking forward to the cake.

“Trade your expectation for appreciation and the world changes for you.”

Day 7:

I've been so thankful of the garden over the last few days as we've spent most of our time sat out on the trampoline listening to music, drawing and playing games. As rubbish as this situation is I hope that for many people it really makes them appreciate the space that they do have. People always seem to want more but when it comes to situations like this would 'more' actually mean anything?

I will (as always) be focusing on the important things in life. Like the people that really make this life worth living.

"Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones."

Day 6:

During these crazy confusing times its really important to keep busy, if we don't I think many of us (especially the creative folk) will start to wilt very quickly. We've been concentrating on the creative side of things the most while we've been shut away, as the satisfaction that you get from completing a project or producing a piece (no matter how small) can fill you with all those happy vibes.

We've recently started a couple of online drawing classes and todays character illustration was just what we needed for a self isolation pick-me-uk.

Keep creating people, I think we're going to see some amazing pieces of work off the back of this pandemic and its going to be amazing to see. 

I'm a mean green mother from outer space and I'm BAD!!

Day 5 :

If the last few days are anything to go by then LEGO is going to be our saving grace through all of the craziness that we are going through at the moment. It's been our 'go to' to break up the days.

We recently watched Little Shop Of Horrors for Opeie's 80s project that and I think he has become a little obsessed with it. So this morning he asked if we could make an Audrey 2 Lego Brickheadz, obviously I jumped at the challenge and I think it came out pretty well. 

I wonder what we'll be building tomorrow during all this social distancing?

"Feed me Seymour..."

... We may have had to build a Seymour too! 😏

"Theories pass. The frog remains."

Day 4:

While we are all in our homes confused about what is going on around us the rest of the natural world are happily living their lives oblivious to the stresses and strains that we are all facing. While gardening today we spotted this happy little frog casually doing its own thing and it really did make the pair of us smile. It made me realise just how much we've got to hold on to these moments of happiness and focus our energy into those to get us through this bizarre time.

Get in your gardens people and make the most of this weather.

"The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."

Day 3:

Ive not been in the greatest headspace today but the sunshine has really dragged me through it. After  a peaceful walk this morning with Becci and the boys, Opeie and I spent the remainder of the afternoon sitting in the garden building LEGO. I think those magical bricks may just help us through all of this.

If you are doing your part and staying home then stay creative, there's real magic in letting those creative juices flow. 

"Instead of hate, celebrate."

Day 2:

 I'd like to think that what is happening in the world at the moment will make people take a step back and look at how they have been acting towards people in their lives. As heartbreaking as this situation is it could also be a turning point for fixing those relationships that don't need to be volatile.

It's also important to really make the most of days like mothers day to celebrate and remind us that although dark, its not all bad.

Happy Mothers day all.

"Do we need distance to get close?"

I've been finding it harder and harder to write over the last few months for various reasons and it has really been getting on my nerves. The world seems to be going to shit and its been taking my motivation and confidence with it. So in an attempt to get my juices flowing and continue documenting our journey for the boys I'm going to post one picture a day to get us through this slump and give us that little bit of sunshine for these dark times. 

Todays picture is from Titterstones Clee, clearly not practising social distancing from each other but doing our best to keep our distance from others. It was one of those days that was good for the soul and we all really needed it. 

Stay safe people.

"A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind."

I like to try and make the most of our days in full, it doesn't always happen because at times life just gets in the way but making the most of our time together is really important to me . Its so easy to fall into that headspace of getting to a certain point of the day and deciding that there's no point going out, especially this time of year when the weather is cold and wet. 

After an afternoon out with Opeie's home ed friends on Friday we got home, packed our paints, pens and Becci 😂 and headed over to one of our favourite hideaway spots for an evening of creativity while watching the sun go down. We backed the car up to the edge of the hillside at Titterstones, dropped the seats, opened the boot and we had the perfect relaxing view to accompany a creative mind. 

Nights like this are perfection and are everything we need as a family for calm and clear headspace.

"If we don't get where we're going, baby I don't care. I'm already there"

I wanted New Years this year to be special with it being mine and Becci's first one together, I also wanted us to do something that really took Opeies mind off the miserable build up to Christmas and start 2020 with a positive clear head, full of excitement and a hunger for that spontaneous adventure that we try and live for throughout the year. When we first started talking about what we were going to do we were aiming towards Seaham, Opeie and I had spent an evening camping over that way a few years ago, which was followed by a 5am comb along the beach, watching the sun come up and collecting sea glass. It was one of those adventures that will always stand out above the rest and we wanted Becci to experience the magic of sea glass hunting too. Seaham is a good drive away and with the nights being pretty cold we figured being somewhere a little closer would be a better idea.

So after a bit of deliberation we decided on Crosby beach in Liverpool. Crosby is also known for it's sea glass hunting, we'd not been there before and it had the added bonus of being the home of Antony Gormleys 'Another Place' sculptures, which we were all excited to see. The plan was to drop the seats in the back of the car and make a bed, park up on the sea front and see in the new year looking out over the sea. Before heading out though we decided to change our plans and stay there until late, then drive home so that we can be warm and comfy in our own beds, it was freezing in Shropshire so it wasn't going to be any warmer on the coast.

When we arrived at the beach it was straight into the sea glass hunting and we ended up with quite a haul. It was so satisfying watching Opeie and Becci really get into the hunt and the surprising burst of   beach worthy sunshine really added to the magic of the afternoon.

After filling a big container with our treasure we headed off for a stroll along the beach to look at the sculptures. The sea was going out and as we walked we could see sculptures appearing out of the water in the distance, seeing them standing there all looking out towards the horizon as the sun set was pretty lovely, but also a little eerie as the light dropped. Opeie was a little scared of them so refused a photo, clearly he's watched far too much Doctor who as he kept saying 'what if they come to life?'

With darkness finally upon us we headed back to the car which we had turned into a little duvet filled den for the evening. It was nowhere near as cold as we were expecting it to be so it was lush being backed up to the beach front with the boot door open, playing games, chatting and messing about. The music choice as always was perfect and the evening ended up being the relaxing end to the year that I think we had all hoped it would be.

For the last few years we've been writing three things that we want to happen the following year on a piece of paper, to burn and send out into the world. This year Becci brought bay leaves to write on and we all sat and wrote our hopes for 2020. I'm really hoping for a much kinder year this year, 2019 was full of negativity and far too much stress and upset for Opeie so I'm hoping all our wishes come true and the year is filled with love and kindness. 

Happy new year from Gifts From The Pirates