Summer Birthday Number 3, On my lovely table, fishing......

So this is a very quick post.

First we had summer birthday number 3, that would be mine and  I had a lovely day.

Some lovely books. . .  (on my lovely table)

and cake,  (on my lovely table)

And a bit more cake. (on my lovely table)

Then making three sets of caravan curtains!! (Yes, I made them on my birthday) 

(on my lovely table)

Yesterday the weather forecast said it would rain for most of the day.

We planned a stay at home day, but the rain didn't arrive, so we took a small fishing trip.

Sorry for the 'three in one' post, it does feel very rushed, hopefully next time I'll have a little more time. 

Bye for now. . .  

On my Lovely Table . . . .

Well this week my table has mainly seen work, lots of papers, laptop whirring away, scribbled notes, etc.

Then we had birthday baking, which is very hot work. . .

But looking at the left overs, the cake was a success.

I harvested my little gooseberry bush over the weekend

(not really sure what I'm doing with them yet)

And lastly we had some early morning Lego building. 

It certainly hurried my little boy up 'You can open your Lego when your ready for school'.

Summer Birthday Number 2

So what do you do in very hot weather? Well isn't it obvious, you switch on the oven and do some baking.

That was yesterdays job, it was too hot for the icing so I did that early this morning.

First I layered the cake with my butter cream and jam.

Then I realised I didn't have enough 'ready to roll icing'. 

So I sent my other half to the shop and continued with the fairy cakes.

Back to the birthday cake. What better for a little boy than spiders!!!

(not edible...)

Then we set off for the party destination, my Mum and Dads.

This was very much the calm before the storm.

The boys had a great time, there was lots of  running around with a little survival 'fire lighting' thrown in (closely supervised, of coarse!!) 

 We all really enjoyed the afternoon, but now it's time for a chilled glass of wine.

P.S. I'd like to say a big Thankyou to my Mum and Dad for lending us a beautiful venue and a big Thankyou to everyone who came.

Simplicity skirt.

A few weeks ago I bought a sewing pattern, unfortunately I got the wrong size.

I then spent a full day attempting to exchange it for the larger size. The shop I purchased it from wouldn't change it even though they never actually told me it was non returnable!!!!!

Anyway one phone call to Simplicity and all my problems where solved (no I didn't miraculously lose weight, they sent me a new pattern)

So onto the sewing. First I read and re-read the pattern. Then I started to make the skirt out of some calico to check I had the right size.

I always trace the pattern off the sheet using grease proof paper.

The pattern starts to make more sense as you go.

 I didn't finish the first skirt (it was obviously not the right size)

So I traced another set of patterns and got on with the chosen fabric.

This time it was quicker, having already done the first few steps before.

Next was the zip / yoke area.

Back to reading the pattern (with some raspberry cider)

I finished the skirt at the weekend. Then took it to my Mums for her opinion. 

We decided it needed a few modifications.  . . . . 

I added some ribbon and made it slightly straighter and a little shorter.

So the finished skirt (the colour looks a bit washed out in the photo)

I do have a little confession to make, I haven't worn a skirt since school and that's over twenty years ago.

 I'd love to make another because I really enjoyed it but first I must try and wear it!!!!!!

Time flies!!

This week has flown by. I knew it was going to be a busy week (school moving up day, three showings of the school play, meetings at 'big school', maths challenge, work, etc. . . ) so before it started we blew away the cobwebs with a Sunday morning walk.

We headed to the hills, in a beautiful part of the Ribble Valley.

The weather was glorious and the children enjoyed running ahead and exploring.

The views. . . . well what can I say!!

We did have company, thousands of horse flies.

(every time we paused for a drink we were eaten alive)

We will be heading there again, hopefully without the flies.

Tomorrow I'm hoping for a day off, but now I'm heading for the maths challenge.

Blog-a-versary

So it's a full year since I started this blog. I've done 100 posts and taken load more photos than I do normally. My children have learnt that some photos require only the back of your head and often ask 'are you blogging this?'

I would like to think some people out there read my posts and I do have a few, very appreciated followers. I  love getting comments and although I'm not that great at replying, I promise I do read them all.

So onto the second year of blogging. . .
Hopefully lots more crafting. . .
Hopefully more exciting days out. . .
Maybe some new family members (covered in fur before you get any ideas!!) . . .
Possibly a new heating boiler (exciting, I know), then loads of decorating . . .
What else . . . Oooh I don't know . . .  .But do please visit again.

Boy vs Wild. . .

The party preparations are in full swing for the second Birthday we have in July.

This is for my little boy, this year we are doing a 'Bear Grylls' theme. Boy vs Wild. My Mum has kindly offered her garden for the party as she has more room (I asked and she couldn't say no).

In the passed we have put out balloon to help people find the party, these always POP. So I thought I would make a flag. . . . 

So just to remind you . . . 

So all I needed to do was enlarge the image so it was big enough for a flag. Sounds simple if you own a photocopier but I don't. So I printed it in sections, stuck them together, traced it onto grease proof paper, then transferred it onto iron on stiffening. 

The orange fabric was very thin so I thought the stiffening would make it easier to sew.

Then to hold it all together I sewed along the lines on the machine.

I had hoped to keep the text all attached together but I couldn't work out how to sew it to the flag. So it all needed cutting out.

Then I had to pin it all back together . . 

The blue fabric that I've used for the flag is hard to cope with. It frays, leaving blue thread everywhere and you can't iron it very easily because it melts, it sounds great doesn't it? but it was the right colour to go with the orange.

Needless to say I did create a bit of a mess.

So the finished flag 

(I still need to get a flag pole, I'm thinking a very long garden cane)

Please try and ignore the creases, I will go and iron it now. 

(wish me luck, it better not melt!!)

On my lovely table. . .

So this week has been mainly about party preps and baking!!

We had a table makeover for the Birthday Party with a simple print your own and stick together film strip.

We printed Thank you notes, ready to write, for all the lovely gifts my daughter received over the weekend.

Then on a whim I bought a sewing pattern for a skirt. Although the pattern was officially on the table the sewing process hasn't started.

(Lets just say that I'm not the size I thought I was, maybe its all the cake. But hopefully I can swap it for a bigger size!!)

Next on the table will be more party invites . . . .