A Scottish break.

Were back and we all had a great time, even no 1 son !

The trouble with holidays is that they just go too fast.

The week began with hubs secret stop over

Blackpool !

I thought the boys would love it, they didn't even want to go in the Pleasure beach, what?

so instead we took the tram as far a long the golden mile as we could then went half way back, and walked the rest of the way. It was heaving, it seems to be the capital for stag and hen weekends, lots of very drunk people.

The following morning it was up and out, Edinburgh here we come.

we had an amazing view from our hotel room

the skies cleared and we had a little mooch

A great place to stay with the bus stop right outside.

we were even treated to an amazing sunset

we visited the castle

The Zoo

The museum

Grey friars 

Holyrood and parliament

and generally just enjoyed the sights of Edinburgh

It was a fab week that ended with a 9.5 hour trip back to home !!

The boys were great, hardly any moaning and seemed to enjoy it.

Bitter sweet as I think that may well be the last holiday with no 1 son, unless we win the lottery and venture somewhere exotic that involves a plane ride!

I hope you enjoyed your little trip around Edinburgh with us.

x

Blooming Pirates !

I am so not in love with this pirate wedding outfit.

In fact I blooming hate it.

I have royally ballsed it up. 

The skirt wasn't too bad, the fabric for the waistcoat is wrong, should never have bought unseen from eBay. 

I didn't have black bias binding so used the white, trying not to have to buy any more stuff, hate it, then thought lets zig zag some stitches down it to dampen it down. Now Bias binding and I are not friends, I hate the stuff, always goes wonky, add that to naff stitching and it looks awful.

The waistcoat set up was a night mare I had to add loads of darts just to get the neck to sit properly, in all honesty the shape of the waistcoat isn't too bad, would look nice on a slender pirate.but placed with the skirt, the skirt was not full enough, a bit flimsy, here we go, more creative changes being made, no idea why I bought a pattern I have completely butchered it.I know, lets add an underskirt, a bit of black to balance it.

Then it was the turn of the ribbon laces, totally rush job, just need it finished, is that wrong of me? I am seriously contemplating going out to rent a wench outfit !

I have now lost it. I just need to get it done, wear it for a few hours then bin it!

It is  not the most flattering of outfits, I look like a beached whale !

I am so not looking forward to photo's

I suppose you want to take a peak?

are you ready?

please be seated you may fall over laughing!

cut ready, boy do I need to lose some weight. Its huge.

3/4 finished, the red spots are pins

lacing, done.need to sort the length of the ribbons. note the dodgy stitching. and finish the bottom edge of the ruffle.

add it to the skirt

now do you see what I mean?

its too dark to take pic now with underskirt, but it does look better with a bit of bulk, not that I need any mind you !

Now I have to make the blouse ! who's bright idea was this? the weddings on Saturday....

Excited.

Oh I am so excited, there are changes afoot

hubs car needs to be replaced soon, as I now have my nifty little run around we can look at something a bit different for hubs, he just needs to drive to and from work which isn't to far away, my car can then be a run around.

we still have a few years to go before we can put the great retire early plan into action, so in the interim we want to find ways to enjoy life more, now no 1 son is 17 and doesn't want to holiday with us,[no 2 still happy to explore new places], weekends are just calling out to us.

When the boys were younger we had a camper van, nothing posh , not fitted out out, just sleeping facilities, the van had an awning that you could attach so we would set up kitchen etc in there,but it did the trick and we had some amazing holidays with friends who also had campers, those were the days the boys were happy to stay in a filed and make their own entertainment with friends, dens, camp fires , climbing trees, how times change.

Hubs and I love the outdoor lifestyle, we love to walk and explore new places, so our thoughts have turned to getting a new camper, in my dreams I would love a VW

split the difference, go check out their hire vans, swoon.....

but they are so outside of our price range. a nice dream though.

From a practical viewpoint the van we had before would be more than adequate, but now I am older I would like the benefit of some mod cons, nothing much, a cooker, fridge, a tap with running water, and some storage cupboards, I can make pretty things to go inside.

Much pondering and surfing the net we have indeed come back to our first van, a Mazda Bongo.As luck would have it there is a sales room not too far away and they have some beauties, we are going to take a peak next Sunday, just to look you understand!

all photos from the Bongo Camper sales site

I absolutely love this van, its the colour that sways me

but its out of our price range at £8k

their other vans are just fine, not a pretty colour though, this one is up at £6.5k, still a bit pricey

no 2 son would sleep in the roof and hubs and I would have the double downstairs!

Then add the awning

photo from Bongo camper

and hey presto a comfy home away from home.

Now hubs is a handy man he can put his hand to most things , seeing as you can get a kit to fit it out yourself for £419

Tranzwagon

]just one of the many prepacked kits to buy.]

and pick up a basic model for about £4k this would seem the cheapest option, start with just the awning and 'camp' then build the interior ourselves.seems like the most cost effective way forward.

Holidays then become little adventure road trips, finding new places, even crossing the channel and venturing further afield, with our last van we even used it in the winter months. 

summer 2015 seems like its going to be a good one.I'll keep you updated with progress.

Another week goes by.

A whole week and no blogging, time seems to be flying by.

Last Sunday was get up and go day, as usual the boys were not to be tempted out so hubs and I had an impromptu walk with the hound.

Bank holiday Sunday was not a day to be getting caught up in Motorway traffic so we headed out not too far away, 2 motorway junctions away to be exact.

The weather was typically British, hot then cold, sunny then overcast, windy then still, with rain clouds looming not too far away.

We had a walk along the beach, totally missing the signs that dogs were not allowed, no one commented and he had a great time. 

Being a couple for adventure walks we decided to walk around the point, which meant scrambling over very slippy rocks, yes a middle aged plus sized woman scrambling at times on all 4's,  there were a group of 7-9 year olds boys doing the same thing whilst their parents watched from the safety of the path, I think they were impressed! their parents not!

 

but we made it round, in 1 piece, by which point the weather was turning decidedly grey!

Feeling accomplished and with no whining tired teenage boys we decided to treat ourselves to a beverage, luckily their was a sea front pub with some outside seating

suitably refreshed it was time to head back home not wanting to get stuck in the mass exodus on the motorways.

This week has also seen some crafting progress, 

socks now complete

Pirate skirt, Done. Not particularly flattering but hey, I'm a buxom wench!

This fabric was a NIGHTMARE to sew, very very slippy, and as for a curved hem, arghhhh

its quite light weight so am thinking of maybe putting a small underskirt type thing around the hem? maybe black? what to do you think?

I also got my knit top completed

I absolutely love it, again not particularly flattering as it finishes just under the bust, but its great over a long sleeve tee with my jeans and the colours are fab.

Other than that its just been work, hubs still on nights, boys still doing their own thing, no weight lost, fell off the wagon this week, but back on it and no weight gained, phew.meet up with my old friend last night, still trying to be sociable, off out again tonight, whats happening here!, 

This weeks grand creative plan is to make the waistcoat for my pirate outfit, struggled to find a suitable black fabric, so bought off ebay, unfortunately when it arrived the pattern was bigger than I though but think it will be ok

should have enough left over to make a small pirate bag, then its just the blouse to sort, and only 7 days, good job hubs is on nights, I see a lot of late night sewing happening!