Now the new year is bedded in and it will be Christmas again before you know it, I was sitting reminiscing about my younger days – when the children were small. I decided I wouldn’t succumb to the ‘male’ and ‘female’ roles of previous generations. I wasn’t going to let trucks and guns be male toys for my son and dolls were not for use only by my daughter.

Well, they say even the best laid plans can go awry.

My son, almost from the time he could walk, loved playing with toy trucks and bulldozers. He would even pretend to hold his sister up with the age old hand sign for a gun. Where did he pick that up from?

While he was saying ‘Bang, bang’, my daughter held her doll close to her chest and wailed – ‘Don’t hurt my baby!”

Are these roles ingrained in our DNA?

From history – weapons of every type have been used by humans – from clubs to cannon, rifles to revolvers, lance to lasers. Seems the human race is doomed to be forever aggressive.

Wouldn’t it be excellent if we could break the cycle?

Be kind, considerate and peaceful. Open doors for strangers, buy coffee for someone in less fortunate circumstances than you, smile and enjoy the beauty of life instead of complaining. The world would be a better place.

I think the depiction of the horrors of the world are all too easy to see and report on in the social media of our day. But it seems greed and the desire for power override any decency for fellow human beings. We’ve seen it over and over again through the ages.

Sorry – Rant over.

Anyway – talking about kids and their toys – inspired me to write this little story. Enjoy.

“Do you like poetry?” Danny asked his friend.

Kevin screwed up his nose. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Well,” Danny said. “My Mum can recite all sorts of funny ones.”

“Poetry isn’t funny,” Kevin smirked.

Danny recited, straight-faced – “The boy stood on the burning deck

                                                        picking his nose like mad

                                                        rolling it up in little balls

                                                       and flicking it at his Dad. – that’s poetry.”

Kevin laughed. “That’s gross!”

Danny lifted his nose in the air and boasted. “Mum can also recite ‘The owl and the pussy-cat went to sea.’ and she says she can still remember another title of a poem, even tho’ she’s forgot the poem.”

Kevin looked down at the ground and wriggled his toes.

“What title?”

Danny scrunched up his face in concentration. “I think it was ‘Fireforefiddle, the Fiend of the Fell’ – it was about a cat, she said.”

“That’s silly,” Kevin flicked a piece of grass at an ant to see if it would be able to lift it, or walk around it. “Poetry is supposed to be serious – you know – Shakespeare and stuff.”

“Who?” Danny asked.

“Apparently he wrote things a long time ago – and MY Mum says, it was hard to understand, and anyway, everyone died in his stories.”

Danny nodded. “I wonder if they’ll teach us that sort of stuff when we get to school?”

“Who knows!” Kevin answered. “I’m not looking forward to starting school!”

Danny shook his head. “I am. You get to make new friends all the time, and play, and draw, and Mum says you learn lots, too.”

Kevin looked at Danny as if he had grown two heads.

“Yeah! Right!” he said, then got up, kicked the sand, stood on the ant and began to run towards the sea.

“Come on. Let’s go and have a swim.”

1 can tuna, drained

baby spinach leaves, chopped

1 can corn kernels, drained

6 eggs

3 sheets puff pastry

1. Preheat pie maker and spray with oil.
2. Combine tuna, spinach and corn with whisked eggs.
3. Cut pastry into 6 tops and bottoms of pies. Place bottom in pie maker.
4. Fill each pie with egg mixture.
5. Put on tops. Close pie maker and cook till light goes out. Makes 6.

Using whatever colour 8 ply yarn you have, cast on 6 stitches.

next row : purl

row 3: knit 1, then increase in each stitch. (11 stitches)

Repeat rows 2 and 3. (21 stitches) (if you are making a worm, or snake – stop here and then continue in stacking stitch for length desired. Decrease as per end of caterpillar)

Repeat rows 2 and 3 (41 stitches)

Now continue to length desired, adding different coloured yarn as desired.

Decrease :-

starting on a knit row – Knit 3, Knit 2 together, (knit 2, Knit 2 together). Repeat the part in bracket to end of row. You should have 31 stitches left.

Next row – purl.

Next row – Knit 2, knit 2 together (knit 1, knit 2 together) – repeat part in brackets to end of row. (21 stitches left)

Next row – purl.

Next row – Knit 1, (knit 2 together) to end of row. (11 stitches left)

Next row – purl

Next row – Knit one, (Knit 2 together) to end of row. (6 stitches left)

Next row – purl.

Next row knit 2 together to end (3 stitches)

Next row – knit 3 together and finish.

When finishing the toy, stuff sections the tie off with tight yarn and finally decorate as you wish.

If these instructions are confusing to you, or you need more information – please message me and let me know. Thank you.