Pre-holiday ramble.

I really do seem to have had no time for blogging since my last effort, what with getting ready for our holiday, tomorrow! Plus, the boys went away for 4 whole days with the Gramps and I spent most of the time doing stuff around the house. I know I probably should have taken some time for myself but I'm still having trouble focusing on things when we are constantly thinking about selling the house and preparing for our holiday! We did manage to go and see a film which was not aimed at children which was great but I still hate how much it costs!

The for sale board went up yesterday. We decided not have one initially but have thought it might be a good idea as we do get quite a lot of passing traffic because of the little pub across the road. Wouldn't it be just wonderful if we received an email whilst we are away to tell us we have had an offer? We live in hope.

The boys and I took time to go to the park with a friend of mine and her little boy today. We had a lovely time chatting and had a coffee while the three terrors ran around like maniacs for an hour -  and we just managed to miss a short shower, too.

In a short while I have the boys' beds to change so they are done for when we come back and right now they are downstairs turning each other into mummies by wrapping double sided sticky tape on their faces! The packing is all but done except the toiletries tomorrow and then a quick whip round the bathrooms and a vacuum and we are done. Can't leave the house without being cleaned when we are going away, plus we may have some viewings so it needs to be spotless!

Sorry for ordinariness of this post but hope to have some holiday memories to share with you on my return from sunny Menorca.

Catch ya later. xx

Busy, busy, busy and news!

Phew! The last week or ten days have been rather busy. During the middle of last week we started getting the house clean, spick and span because on the following Monday we had an appointment with an Estate Agent. 


Yes, our house is on the market again and this time we will definitely be going ahead!

We are very excited as we are continue our search for just the right property. We really hope to find the right place which will give us the means to grow as much of our own food as possible, I can keep my chickens and the boys will be able to have a very special time for the rest of their childhoods. We have not made any decisions yet but myself and my other half are still very excited about the prospect of  living the life we have hoped for since we met, and creating a special environment for our boys; I will keep you posted on any developments.

Summer term at school is drawing to an end as I have mentioned previously and last Saturday was the summer fayre. I went to help out on the Tombola for an hour and I also took the hamper I was baking for to be a prize in the raffle. What do you think? 

 I even used some fat quarter fabric to sew a lining for the basket!

Of course I included an old faithful, lemon curd, but everything else I had made before but not included in any of my hampers. (If you check out my Pinterest account there are some I have made in Summer, for Christmas gifts and raffles etc.) However, this time I felt like making some more savoury things so I plumped for Sweetcorn and Cheddar scones, with a little kick thanks to a shake of paprika, Soda bread which I make a lot but this time with pistachio nuts and sundried tomatoes and then red onion and balsamic vinegar chutney - a kilo of onions gave me a lot of pain and just about two jars of chutney! The cake was a little departure for me as I am known for making loaf cakes but went for a round one this time. Described as a cut-and-enjoy fruit cake it's the ideal recipe to go with a brew or as part of a tea party occasion. I am hopefully going to put the recipes on my food page in the next couple of days. Please keep checking as I tend to take a while to do this - may just have to resort to taking a picture of my recipes if that works! #lazyblogger!

I have been gardening a little and planted some Hollyhocks called Creme de Casis and a Veronica called Shirley Blue and really got on with some proper weeding. It's looking really quite nice at the moment, and I want people to see it looks good WHEN they come to view our house, SOON I hope! Here is how it is looking just now.

Unfortunately the Hollyhocks are planted in the bottom right of the first  picture but I couldn't show them as they were in the shade. Not a good sign for the future, perhaps! The Veronica is hidden beyond the first chimney pot - really must work on my camera skills!

I love the Corduline in the above picture. It was just what I wanted and at £6 from Asda I thought it was a steal.






I hope some colour will be injected into this end of my patch soon when a couple more things, like the geraniums I have planted, come into flower.

Ok, I need to get changed from my painting clothes, yes, me, I have been painting the walls in the cellar. Not a job I normally undertake but all hands to the pump when you want to make your house look the best you can.

Hope you liked what you saw, let me know!

Catch ya later! xx

Where does the time go - almost July!

Well I don't know what happened to June, really I don't. Time seems to have really flown since my last post, for various reasons, and I'll explain a little more why soon.


That aside, I have been getting on with a few bits and pieces. I finally got round to making some of the fabric fridge magnets a la Sarah Moore and I love them!
 

 
So much lovelier to look at when you are pining all that much needed stuff to the front of the old Frigidaire, I wish!

I am enjoying writing to new pen pals, some from my #PostCircle and others I have gathered along the way. A new correspondent, Kathleen in California, sent me some quite beautiful doilies which will be used for my vintage bunting I plan to make; very frustrating as I just need a couple more to start but I am picky, not me!, about the size I want to use! One of them is in the picture above.

The end of the school summer term is almost upon us and one of our wonderful teachers is taking retirement. She was with both my boys for their Reception class and gave them a wonderful start to their main school experience; an honour to have such a dedicated person to encourage and nurture my boys. I have decided to give her as a gift one of my journals I have embellished as the words on it are quite appropriate. We will add to the collection being made for other gifts, of course, but wanted to do something special as she has always been very supportive of my crafting projects. 




I shall also have to think about presents for the teachers of both boys' classes - a total of four, including teachers and teaching assistants, but then there are other staff members that help out who the boys really like but where do you stop? I like to make things for them so it isn't just a case of buying a box of chocolates; I need to get my thinking cap on. I did consider sewing some "Thank You" hearts out of the hessian I  recently bought from the wonderful Pocket and Pin.



I made the item below for my dear friend, Little Bohemian Butterfly, for her recent return to work; I thought something along these lines would be good for teacher gifts. 

What do you think?

 Well, I didn't want you to think I had forgotten about you or indeed that you had forgotten about me! So I hope you enjoyed out little catch up and I'll be back again very soon with more to share with you.

Catch ya later.xx

Recent Crafty Sensations!

To say I have been itching to show you this first project is a mahoosive understatement! 

I came up with the idea of sewing a liner for the lid not long after buying the suitcase for the knockdown, bargain price of £8 on this trip out junkin'.

It has taken a while and one reason for that is I didn't want to cut into any of my fabric stash and was trying to use scraps. Well, with the help of some fabric donations from the lovely Little Bohemian Butterfly I have finished this labour of absolute love; I squealed with excitement when I held it up against the case to see if it looked as good as I hoped it would - and it does!!

So here is the before picture...
 

and here with great excitement is the finished article, with close ups!

I am so very pleased with it, as I think you can tell.

Next up is something I have just not got round to re-jigging but now this is done, too. I bought this little straw hat for 75p from a charity shop to use as a summer decoration. Again this has been fixed with a donation of fabric and I have pinned the chiffon-like scarf fabric onto the hat and draped the tiny beading around it. I really like it and because of the size it will probably fit on the mantle along with the bunting I recently made to go up for summer, so here it is -

And finally, I am looking at trying out new mediums for my crafting and just seeing what I can come up with. This is a small piece of mounting board, 2 x 2 inches, which I have covered with some fabric, added a co-ordinating brad and used some distress ink on the edges to age it a little. Not sure what I will use it for but love it anyway! Take a look!

I do hope you like my crafty sensations? I feel sensational finishing my suitcase and trying new things.

Thanks for stopping by, tell your friends and catch ya later!xx

A Friend Indeed Is A Wonderful Thing!

Do you have an address book full of friends, a Christmas card list as long as your arm or a Facebook account full of followers?

My answer to all of these questions is no.

At the ripe old age of, nearly, 46, I can count on the fingers of one hand the good friends, apart from my husband who it goes WITHOUT saying is my very best friend in the world, I have made and kept over the years.

I suppose I am guilty of something, as are many other people I am sure, which is out of sight out of mind. Due to moving around the country and travelling at different times in your life you do lose touch with some people, but we get wrapped up in our own lives and seem to find less time for other people.

However, the absolute joy of meeting somebody new and knowing immediately that you have so much in common through opinions, interests and ideals that you are sure to stay friends through thick and thin is quite remarkable.

  

 

This happens very rarely but when it does it makes your heart jump! Your head can't help racing with all the wonderful things you know you can share, talk about, be inspired by and enjoy together. I am very lucky that I have recently met such a person and when you are older and it happens it is indeed a wonderful thing!

Have you ever made a friend like this when you were a bit more than a teenager? I would love to hear your comments about your experiences.

Catching up, again.

Hello!

I have really been neglecting my little blog for a while so here I hope to make it up and that you enjoy catching up with me.

The first news I would like to share is that of issue 13 of Pretty Nostalgic. It was in trouble for a while but they have had a reprieve thanks to new subscribers and much support so the latest issue goes to print as we speak and here is a sneaky peak of the front cover.

This is such good news and we hope it will continue to inspire and encourage us to spend wisely, waste less and appreciate more. I did all I could with a mini Twitter campaign and if it helped at all I am very grateful - one for my Journal of Gratitude!

I have finally completed one of my unfinished sewing projects and here it is! I made this bag not sure when but if you could see inside you would witness a beautiful French seam! I have now added the panel of embellishment and the buttoned handles and I love love love it!

I recently met a lovely new friend, through another friend at school, and she has a wonderful blog called Little Bohemian Butterfly. Don't you just love the name? If so why not take a look for some sewing, crochet, up-cycling inspiration; it's beautifully laid out and has a wonderful feel to it.

Talking of new blog finds, words fail me in how to describe it but you MUST visit the wonderful world of Susan Branch.

Our dog, Jake, is now becoming a real part of the family and is 15 weeks old tomorrow. We had a lovely time yesterday, Bank Holiday Monday, walking him around our local beauty spot, Hollingworth Lake. He made lots of doggy friends along the way, had a paddle and we had coffee, cake and ice cream!





















I am sneaking in this slightly hurried blog post as both the boys are fettling in the shed with Jon so apologies for the roughness round the edges! I know I will not be called for anything, apart from my coffee that is in the microwave warming as I can hear it beeping at me!

I hope you enjoy my blog; I really do need to find some time to make it more attractive but I just seem to have other things to do! Hey ho, guess I'll just ramble on!

Thanks for stopping by anyway and catch ya later! xx

Call To Arms - Pretty Nostalgic Needs Our Assistance!!!

Pretty Nostalgic, our favourite British, independent magazine needs our help, immediately!!

To keep this wonderful publication going we are encouraging people to take out their lapsed subscriptions or a brand new one. 

Think of somebody with a birthday coming up, would they love it as much as we all do? This would make an ideal gift and you could also be making a donation to charity at the same time.

Nicole and Rae work so very hard, along with all of the fantastic contributors and subscribers, sharing theirs and our passion for all things well loved, vintage and up-cylced.

Please, please pass on this message via Twitter, Facebook or any other social media and keep alive, what is in my house anyhow, a beautifully British institution.

Thank you in anticipation.xx