Grrrrrrrrrr

Yesterday hubs and no 2 son were out at Fairford airshow, no 1 son was sleeping as he had done a hard days work at the zoo then had an all nighter watching sport on the TV.

I had planned a sewing day, I need a few sleeveless tops for our summer camping trips, before I move on to more challenging patterns!

I decided to use the sew and sew pattern I used in May to make the sleeveless version, 

with my lovely fun fabric, cool cotton just the thing

Machine out, set up ready to go.......

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The damn machine kept coming unthreaded

I have absolutely no idea what I am doing wrong, I have read the manual again, asked for advice on good old Facebook, a sewing group I belong too, but no, it had a mind of its own..

After about 3-4 hours I did manage to get a completed top , It fits really well and I love it, 

excuse the pic, the top hasn't been washed and pressed yet, I did shorten the body to get a higher neck line

It is even its just the angle I took the pic from, I did a rolled hem on all edges, no faffing about with this top, cut it out, sew it up, easy peasy, well it would have been if the machine had worked with me!

I am doing 1 more of these in some funky crepe material, its all cut out ready to go, maybe I'll try the machine again today, then its on to try something else, not sure what though.

Whoosh....

I cant believe how my weeks seem to disappear

another week and no blogging

shame on me

Last Sunday was a stay at home type of day, raining and blooming knackered from all my gallivanting about

we just poddled about nothing to report there.

Then Monday it was up and out to bath with my friend

First thing was getting the local train up to the main station, I love getting trains, whilst I was waiting I popped outside and took  a peak at 2 more Shaun's

I just love them...

Hitting bath we decided to grab a bun at Sally Lunns, never been there before, my friend assured me it was gert lush!

There's a little museum downstairs that's free to enter, all the history of the building

and the little cafe is gorgeous, I forgot to take a pic of the bun but be assured it was scrumptious, worth a visit if you are ever in Bath, be warned there is usually long ques to get in!

Breakfast complete we headed out to explore, my friend is a regular visitor so we skipped all the high street stores and went in search of the arty stuff!

We walked for miles, its such a lovely city

after a quick lunch we set out again, my poor feet!
I was very good at resisting the temptation to buy gorgeous goodies, only splashing out on a cute piece of fabric

absolutely no idea what I will make with it, its just fun and I like it,
along the way we had a few beverage pit stops and before I knew it it was time to head home

it was a long but fun day, I rarely have shopping trips with girlfriends and its great to see what we each like we have very different tastes, great for picking up gift ideas.

I didn't manage to get home till around 8pm, not good on a school night, then Tuesday it was back to it, full on work mood, just not enough time in the day.

Evenings have been spent kitting out the camper, we are ready to set off now, so this morning I have booked our first trial night away, for us to try out the van before we head off for a holiday and also to see how no 1 son copes at home on his own.

I chose somewhere local'ish,  Petruth Paddocks,they call themselves free range camping, basic site, quiet looking forward to a night away and will get to explore Cheddar too!

Now all I need to do is make it to next weekend!, sure that wont be a problem, my weeks seem to vanish, at least I don't have the school runs to do for a few weeks.

what a lovely break.

Up and out yesterday for lunch at the seaside with  my lovely friend.

The sun was shining and we had a great time, unfortunately I didn't have my camera and my phone was almost flat, I did manage to get 2 photos  one of the pier and one from the car park on the beach!

When I got home I found this outside

All fixed and perfect, happy !

 finished the day with a dog walk with hubs and a quick stop in the local for a beverage! Oh and we booked a campsite in The Gower for the end of August.

This morning I woke early to drop junior for his school trip, I opened the back door to let the hound out and was treated to a wonderful view

A rainbow

and more gorgeous blooms

after juniors drop off  is was then  time to drop no 1 son to work

more blooming driving .....

Then it was just hubs and I, we set out to get some  camping kit for the van, camping is calling, and grab a quick lunch at the harborside

we jumped on a boat

enjoyed a cold beverage

goats cheese open sandwich for me

chicken pie for hubs

and watched the world go by

A mermaid sheep  sailed past!

We had a lovely lunch date, it was over all too soon, homeward bound, then out In the bongo with the hound, he loves it, he has loads of room to stretch out, to pick up no 1 son from work

we walked the hound around the perimeter and enjoyed the view

the goats were a bit wary of the hound!

A quiet evening in waiting for junior to return awaits, there is a pims with my name on in the fridge and my crochet ripple blanket needs to be finished.

I have had a great 2 days holiday, or should I say staycation, and I have 2 more to go, I feel refreshed and happy, there's a lot to be said for not having the stress of going away and just going with the flow, I think I will do this more often.

Hope you're all having a great weekend too.

xx.

Happy Weekend.

Good Morning to you all

Its Friday, even better I have a long weekend to look forward to.

There's not much time in my life at the moment ,work is manic, so I booked leave for today and Monday.

The sun is shining and I have a lunch date with my best pal, I've known here since I was 3.

Were heading down to the seaside for lunch! I am excited. The rest of the weekend consists of a day date with hubs tomorrow,[both boys are out] a day of sewing on Sunday and another lunch date with another friend on Monday, for lunch in the city of Bath!

Because work is very busy I have made a concerted effort to try to take at least 15 minutes a day to stop and just breathe, enjoy my surroundings and be thankful. One of the perks of my job is that I do drive around the city a lot, the next 2 months sees 'Shaun in the city' what better way to have 15 minutes of fun.

This week I have managed to see 5 of the sheep, I only managed to stop and photograph 2 though, city parking is a nightmare.

First up was number 11, Shaun of the jungle

what a cutie, even better when I went to look for him I found out that we have a university botanic garden I never knew existed, a visit planned in the future it looks a fab place, tucked away in a quiet residential area of the city.

Then I manged to stop and enjoy this sweet sheep

no 9, tutti fruitti

How fab is tutti fruitti? I just love him

I have my map of the sheep trail in my bag and every work visit I head out to I check to see if there is a sheep near by! its a great way to break the day and enjoy our city. If there's no sheep nearby I choose a nice spot to park up and enjoy my lunch, its working well, I'm really enjoying my little 15 minutes of freedom in my working day.

Now did I mention sewing on Sunday?

well, what can I say, I was naughty and non frugal, but what the heck, my body's shrinking and I need some new clothes. Over on Facebook someone shared a link of an esty shop with 50% off designer fabrics, would have been rude not to really! I only ever buy the £3.99 cheap fabrics but lust after some of the gorgeous designer fabrics, this one just caught my eye and had to buy 2 meters.

Riley Blake, splendor in green, 

pic and purchase from The Handmade haberdashery over on Etsy.

I love this fabric, just a simple shift dress or tunic, what  great colour blast to brighten my day. Looking forward to making something with this on Sunday.

Now I best get myself in gear and head out to pick up my friend, whatever you are doing I hope you all have a great day.

x

Just a simple Saturday!

Yesterday should have been our first trip out in the bongo.

Sadly it got poorly about half an hour after hubs picked it up last Tuesday so it went straight back, under warranty for a repair.

This meant our first mini camping trip had to be cancelled :( gutted

Instead we had a day in the garden,

 hubs is doing a cracking job, lots of gorgeous things are growing

Remember last year we made a little sun corner at the top of the garden

hubs has continued to work on this area and has now started on the dumping ground at the other end!

another lovely little picket fence currently being installed at the end of the veg patch to replace an assortment of bits of mis matched wood, then the area will get flattened, lined and filled with slate,

Then were aiming to get one of these

B&Q

and make a little seaside themed sitting area

lots of blue pots and grasses topped with shells

and fairy lights of course!

And then there was my vintage purchase

Unfortunately the brown striped one died from old age and woodworm but the grey stripe one is ready to be revamped, a little project for me..

The garden is really starting to take shape now Its looking good and will be fab when hubs has finished, it is all 1 sided though, the other side of the garden is the hounds grass/dirt running track...he does occasionally attempt his own hound version of gardening by digging big holes for us!

this is what it looked like last summer ! you can see the dumping ground at the end of the veg plot, its a nice little suntrap at the end of the day 

After a days work we decided to make the most of the great weather and head down to the local pub on the river for something to eat, even the hound came along, the boys left with the hound when they had eaten thend hubs and I enjoyed some time together before a walk home along the river

The rest of the evening was spent with a vino sat in the garden listening to music and enjoying being outdoors

just like a little mini camping trip !

sometimes you don't have to go far to enjoy a simple life!