Confetti

I’ve just cleaned the whole of downstairs…so I think I deserve to do something nice.  Blogging is one of those things that I love to do, but do inherently feel guilty that my time should be spent on something else.  But then, I suppose I deserve some me time right?!

We seemed to have had about 2 days of spring and it feels that we are skirting around summer.  My tree has blossomed and I love it, although it seems to have gone duskier and short-lived with the wind and rain.  There seems to be confetti flying around the garden as if there are whirlwind weddings taking place. 

The rain and glimpses of sunshine seemed to have launched the garden into a growth spurt.  Amongst the weeds, we are lucky to have bluebells along our drive and our border is more colourful than I remembered.

I’m not sure what those yellow ones are but they grow aggressively and spread easily.  There is a clematis waiting to come out among that greenery.  There are a few gaps that need to be filled by something. A trip to the garden centre may be needed soon.

We’ve been busy in the garden…but more tales of that to come soon…!!!

The crafting room has seen a bit of action.  When I had tonsillitis and was poorly at home, I kept thinking of our holiday coming up in August. We are off to Portugal for my father-in-law’s 60th birthday! I can’t wait for some sun and some R&R (rest and recuperation, or relaxing and raving!?) It’s going to be my little man’s first holiday abroad so we have had to get passports in order.  I have a pretty Cath Kidston pink polka dot cover for my passport which is so pretty (also pretty annoying as you have to take your passport out of it’s cover to go through the airport…humph…they don’t appreciate the prettiness?!), so I thought I’d have a go at making one for my chap’s first passport!

I used this tutorial to guide me.

I really need to work on my wonky sewing…straight lines just aren’t my thing! But hey presto!…done!  I don’t think my husband would appreciate one for his passport….

For future learning, it’s a tiny bit tight, so I could make it a bit looser next time. I would probably applique with a “W” if I were to do it again.

That’s all for now, but I’ll have some more things to show you soon.

Love from me and my little man x

First Camp!

Sorry it’s been a while.  Things seem to have got in my way…but nice things…like… CAMPING! I love camping and we try and go every year.  Getting together with friends, or chilling out on our own – we always have a great time, and it’s nice just to be outdoors in the fresh air.  Last year we didn’t manage a trip as we thought it would be too much faff with a 6month old baby in tow…but with a 16/17month old it would be a piece of cake…right?!

We ventured down to the beautiful Purbecks, to set up camp at the foot of Corfe Castle.  We didn’t want to go too far in case we had to abort the mission if a) it was a weather wash out, and b) if the little man didn’t take to it.  So a short 1.5hr drive from home and we arrived at Norden Farm Campsite – a working farm.  We camped with very good friends, The Bloomburns, with whom we try and camp every year with.  They had set up our tent (after a handover on the motorway earlier that day!) so that it would be less stressful when we rocked up later in the evening after hubby had finished work.  That definitely helped, and so did the fact that they had the BBQ underway!  (Thank you Team B!)  Thank you also to one of my yummy mummies for gifting us their tent which was full of pockets to stash torches, bonjela, and…. dummies!

My little man absolutely loved the camping experience. He was so well behaved and so much fun. He went to sleep with no fuss or bother on the air bed; he ended up sleeping on the floor using it as a pillow, but then we snuggled him between us and he was like a toasty little hot water bottle for us.  He even gave us a lie in until 8am!  He enjoyed setting up and taking down camp, the food was a hit and he loved his little camping chair.  He was very much part of the gang.

I wanted to make our novice camper something of his own to take camping so I made him a travel toy bag with some material I had hanging around.  We are usually very un-prepared when we take Wills away stuffing a few random toys in the car if we remember, and I thought he might need a few toys for some camp-side entertainment.  Here are some pictures of it in action…

We were lucky on the weather front and we made it to Lulworth Cove/Durdle Door. We are really lucky to live so close to such a beautiful coastline.  It’s a shame there are so many vulnerable areas with landslides at the moment, who knows how it will look in years to come.  We trekked up the hill (with pushchair in hand…I’m surprised it survived being pushed up there…and I’m surprised the guys survived pushing it!) and we picnicked on the beach.

 

I absolutely loved this camping trip…and I am desperate for the next! 

Lots of love from me (and my tonsillitis) and my little man xxx

PS…Pass the Chop! x

       

Spoils, Teddy Bears and Snails…

Another jam packed week for us which started off with my cousin’s wedding in the depths of Wales.  A fabulous wedding with an equal mix of Welsh and English in the ceremony (I enjoyed belting out a few Welsh hymns!).  I learnt Welsh at school to GCSE level and was so much more exposed when I lived there as I had a mixture of Welsh/English  speaking friends – but I’m pleased to say I still understand and could speak a lot more than I thought I could.   After the ceremony we had tea and cake in the chapel hall and then on to the reception in the Newport Links Golf Course (Pembrokeshire).  It was right on the beach and overlooked the bay…a perfectly romantic location.  We live on the coast at the moment, a 2min drive and we overlook the Solent which gives a wonderful view of the Isle of Wight.  I find watching the sea so relaxing and I could sit in silence and watch all day.  Strange as I don’t enjoy being on or in the sea really…just watching it will suffice! One of the things I would love in the future would be to have a house overlooking the sea, so I could sit in peace and enjoy.    And I do mean a proper sea view…not one you have to tip toe on the bed of your attic room to sea…

There was a lot of travelling last weekend, so in turn things got a bit muddled and hectic at home whilst trying to salvage some time to do some normal routine things.  A brilliant help has been my little man spending some time with his adoptive family!  Babysitters who knock down the door to spend time with my handsome, smiley little boy.  It was a welcome break to have him looked after so I could go about some chores and appointments - you forget what it’s like to not have a little person following you around! 

He had a fun time and was definitely spoilt rotten! He had a baby chino, chocolate cake, shopping trips, ice cream, time in the park, lunch by the pond…Here a few of the pictures I was sent to give you some insight!…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To say thank you to his “Aunty Ro Ro” for looking after him and for buying him that cute blue hoodie I thought I would go about making her something.  I thought a small lavender bear would be the ticket…and would be a test of my drawing skills!  Well I thought I’d do a smallish ted…but my efforts were put to waste as when I turned it inside out, it looked like a teddy bear that had done a few rounds in the boxing ring!  So I went a bit bigger and that seemed a bit more manageable.  So I drew my ted, cut out the pattern and sewed two pieces (wrong sides together) together leaving a turning hole.  After turning the right way out, stuffing and filling with lavender and stitching up it started to look more bear like. And when I hand stitched the face she was a lot more appealing!  Here is what she ended up with…  I’m not sure if it’s a boy or  girl bear…but seeing as she’s a bit fuller in the hip region I’m going with it being a lady bear!

 

We’ve had a surge of warmth this week…my cherry tree is about to explode with bright pink blossom, so I’ll make sure I’ll capture some on camera to share with you.  We’ve been having fun in the garden which has involved bubble lawn mowers, real lawn mowers, alfresco dining, picnics, planting, painting, sunbathing!, hanging out washing etc…  Oh and we’ve been hunting down our new friend who mysteriously keeps slithering to new places around the garden…

Hope you are all well and enjoying the sunshine.

Love from me and my little man x