I have been so carried away with my ramblings across the road at ted and agnes 365 I thought I'd better have a bit of a catch up over here... Today hasn't seen much progress as yet but I did manage to capture this wee cutie
Violets new favourite thrifted pink tutu luckily she didn't want to put her red coat on this morning as unfortunately there is a whiff of bag lady (or baby even) starting to emerge.....
So another year whisks past, I do hope one & all had lovely crimbo & NY celebrations, I have been extremely slack when it comes to blogging in 2009 but have a bundle of various reasons, excuses and other such nonsense....anyway I've decided that New Year needs some new challenges.
I've been dipping into Tiff's 'dottie angel' blog adventures for sometime now and apart from bringing a smile on the greyest of days with her peachy perfect ramblings have been greatly impressed with her dedication to 'the challenge of the up-most kind' even keeping the faith when the call of the yarn shop whispered to her in those quiet moments...tapping her on the shoulder, calling out her name....so I have been toying with the idea of joining her on her quest for sometime now and procrastinate no more shall I.(Well since I got my new boots for christmas.....)
So from the 4th Jan 2010 the 2nd birthday of this blog I will be pledging my pledgy thing to this challenge and laying out the rules I tend to inflict on myself over here. I have decided to keep this venture separate to my usual blogging as I am not insisting that the rest of the clan follow suit.
This probably means things will be even quieter here for now but I will pop in with the odd howdie dodie post now and again + pics of the boys & violet up to mischief as ever, oh and the family gatherings & holidays & high days & any other useless info we want to share & save for posterity....and not forgetting stanley obviously
So see you all soon (and you can stop scoffing now little sister of mine I can & must stay away from the wool/fabric temptation if I am to succeed!)
ps.....the 50p age concern wallpaper is pretty yummy in my opinion!!
everyone around here is sick....so over to flickr for some much needed joy..
some doily lovliness from dottie angel
how fab do these doilies look and such a cute dog....i want one check out the rest of the delightful doilies here
bags of perfection always brighten the darkest of days check out Jek in the box for more joyful colour
this image from Tingella's photostream certainly brightens my day...just perfect
and if you feel like some more doily love wander over here for a browse
Today I dedicate my post to that institution that is 'Granny Chic'...Whilst blundering about Flickr yesterday looking for lovely inspirational photos to brighten my day came across this simply marvellous group set up by Granny Lover Emma Lamb (who also has a delightful blog I hasten to add)
Obviously I joined immediately but didn't have time to browse all that fab grannyness so to honour all things granny I decided to bake up a batch of rock buns & sneak a bit of crocheting in.....and might just wander off to my new find....
The day started with many good intentions of all-sorts of things i needed or rather wanted to do but in my usual haphazard way of things i've started lots and finished little...including a blog post, which I have decided to save for another time.
A particular 1 year old woke wearing a hat, scarf & mittens of mischief this morning and so far has managed to create havoc,
1.... tangle as much wool as she could get her hands onto,
2.... made a beeline for the dogs water bowl and had a jolly good splash about,
3.... stroked the dog to within an inch of his life
4..... practiced her remote control skills while mummy tried a go at grown up tv for 45mins for an ugly betty catch up session.....no chance
and to top it all off I am starting to feel a bit jippy so crossing everything possible that I haven't caught the dreaded bug, as sickness & looking after 3 children aren't best bedfellows I am going to sneak off to bed early with my bag of crochet and a box set of some sort.
Hopefully back soon with a more upbeat & productive post.
a first birthday
first saturday back at work
first time mummy has given me a cake spoon to lick
first party ring biscuit
first birthday present to open
first time popping a balloon
Thank you my beautiful Violet for the past year, your smiles, jinxy ways, those big blue eyes got me through the bad times & made the good times even better.
You bring joy to us all & complete our family.
Happy Birthday Jinxy Jones......xoxo
Love the Dutch they are so into Kitsch & spots....heaven in a high street
We had a little jaunt to Amsterdam mainly to visit Anne Franks house with Tom who was rather keen as we have been reading her diary at bedtime but on arriving hadn't factored in the length of the queue. Now I know we English are superior when it comes to our queueing abilities but with a small child in tow it would have put all our skills to the test, nothing to say my inability to wait for anything.
So we skipped it with a vow to be more organised on our next visit and definitely take in the sites being first in the queue.
Our next port of call was this fab shop
Full of all manner of delightful bits and pieces including these delicious oil cloth fabrics
perfect for the breakfast table which is usually covered in cold porridge flicked from Violets spoon...
and you may of noticed my new green bowls sitting attractively on the oil cloth alongside the lovely jar for jam which definitely makes the it taste so much yummier!
and who could resist this mushroom pencil sharpener & rubber combo, there has been lots of pleading from 2 boys who had the option to buy their own but decided to buy horrid plastic guns instead so I am sticking to my guns (sorry!!!)and not letting it out of my sight.
Then as we wandered the isles of the organic food shop this little beauty caught my eye. Now those who have read of my weakness for packaging will know that I could not pass this one by...isn't it lovely and I might even succumb to a cup of Jasmine tea if I could bring myself to rip open one of the little packets!
What a great place, Haarlem in the Netherlands, beautiful buildings, friendly people, more independent shops than chain stores and the Dutch love Kitsch!!!!
We had a great week exploring the city, a day in Amsterdam hmmm but prefer Haarlem,
walked along lots of these,
and complete and utter heaven a fabric & haberdashery market EVERY Monday filling the square, can't wait to go back with lots of pennies and some basic dutch!
and my new obsession....kitsch bicycle panniers,they are so cool got some for the pashley more of that in the next Kitsch lovin post...
Tom takes the honours of picking the winning comment...he dug right to the bottom of the cup!
Emily from Emily Hooper designs thank you so much for your posts and if you email me your details the book will be on its way to you hopefully before the strike!
After a week of sewing for my new venture I have decided that Friday's should be a day for stitching & sewing clothes for the family and home (well me & Violet as the extent of acceptable 'homemade clothes for the male element of the family stops at pj bottoms!)
I have had this green velvet coat cut out for a while so decided to tackle it today. When I was at Art college I had an strange obsession with chiffon, heaven knows why but Velvet is as frustrating to sew but I adore it so its worth the struggle (not so keen on the chiffon now thank goodness).
I always pin & baste each seam because when I try to skip one of the steps it always ends up in unpicking so its just not worth it. Although as time raced on this afternoon I got a bit cocky & didn't baste the side seams or the undercollar...just used 100's of pins and the power of positive thought to will it not to slip! It seemed okay but we shall see in the cold light of the morning whether I am happy with it or i will spend the morning brandishing my seam unpicker.
This was my progress at lunchtime and a point that I always get ratty with what I'm making, the halfway mark where through years of experience and many unfinished projects I have now learn't to walk away and return in a few days, fresh and ready to sew.
I am hoping to get it finished in time to take to Holland with me but we'll see what comes up next week.
