The Childrens Hour and A Basket of Inspiration

I am re-reading an old favourite at the moment, Frugal Luxuries by Tracey McBride.

I have just been reading the chapter called The Childrens' Hour, where the author talks about having time every day for children to read or be read to from the classics, to craft, to potter with any little thing that takes their fancy. 

It made me realise that I have let this ritual slip in our home. Since I am no longer homeschooling, the opportunity for spending time together and reading aloud for hours if we want is much more difficult to come by. I will have to consciously carve this time out of our day if I want this to happen. And I do want this to happen. Mr Lego, who is 10 now, is slowly losing his interest in history, myths and legends, and learning is becoming a chore for him rather than an interest. I have to do my best to reverse this trend at home. 

Op shops are wonderful places and I found these different sets of childrens encyclopedias or compendiums. They don't seem to publish these volumes anymore, which is such a shame as they are so perfect for just dipping into and sparking that little bit of interest in a child that can often be enough to flame an ongoing passion. 

Another favourite of mine are The Childrens Hour With Uncle Arthur books. 

Now I have spent so long talking about that, I haven't even got to the yarn part yet!
I have finished some of these little lantern children - you can read about them here.

But mainly just looking through lots of books, Ravelry, magazines and getting lost for hours planning Christmas crafting. Oh, and ordering lots of yummy goodies! With just a click of a button, wonderful things arrive in the mail!

How gorgeous are the colours of the Drops Alpaca? I couldn't resist, as it is quite reasonably priced for alpaca and I had a 10% off code from Love Knitting. And if you spend $80 or more, you get free shipping. 
Is that enough perfectly valid reasons (read, excuses!) for ordering all that gorgeous yarn? Methinks, yes!

Linking with Ginny's Yarn Along at Small Things.