What a Lovely Day, Mrs!

Phew, it's hot...

 ... even though it's late September ...

 ... and the leaves are wearing their autumn wardrobe...

 ... and the onions are picked and strung ...

 ... and the cooking apples are ready to fall (possibly in 3D by the look of this photo!) ...

 ... and the berries are bright on the bough.

I've been having just the best day!  The lovely Bibbitybob bobbed by this morning and we had a wonderful time making arrangements for a vintage do we are preparing and refreshing ourselves with tea, coffee and Mr C's homemade Spanish Almond Cakes.  

We then browsed the nearby specialist shops and filled our heads with ideas of lovely things to make and customise (since the prices were mostly out of our reach).  We also made some rather nice purchases from the charity shop there.  Miss BB went for Boden and silk and I bought the following:

 Candle holder to shabby up, or maybe it's down,

 shabby ted, so cute that I had to fork out three whole pounds for him,

three lovely doily thingies

and two pillowcases for lining bags, all the above for £6

I also picked up free, gratis and for nothing these two fabric sample books from the soft furnishings shop.   Miss BB suggested lots of good ideas to use them including fabric brooches.

Hurray!

After all this hard work we had a buffet lunch in the back garden with Mr C before he left for his train journey to Leeds.  He's attending a last union dinner at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, staying over and having another meal the following day.  His first few days of redundancy have passed in a blur of cupboard cleaning and throwing out.  We didn't realise how much stuff he had collected over 31 years of working for the company!

Well, back now to a bit more crafting to complete a great day! xxx

A Qualified Hurrah!

Mr C has just been made redundant!

This, however, is a Good Thing (as "1066 and All That" would say).  Mr C has absolutely hated his job for years and the company, no names mentioned (and it isn't BAE, by the way), have failed to manage anything well and have treated their workforce as poo.  His work colleagues are also happily redundant and his pay off is really rather nice.

That said, it's still a bit of a strange time for him and I think he'll be a bit lost for a while.

Meanwhile, Grandbabies 1 and 2 will be seeing more of Grandad, which is nice.  Grandbaby C No. 1 was a bit poorly on Friday and very happy to see daddy again.  Immediately fell asleep on his lap.

 Aw!

Just before I go, this is the only WiP completed for some time - another Primark skirt repurposed into a fab big bag.   Hopefully there will be more time to make things soon.

Miss Peach Pudding

Grandbaby C No. 2 is now three months old and a delight to all.  Her real name is Eves Violet but mummy calls her Miss Peach Pudding.  She was a cute little peachy baby but she's grown into a pudding now, putting on lots of healthy weight in all the right places.  Mummy is a visual merchandiser with a fashion degree so as you can imagine she is a very stylish little person already.

 This spotty smock top is a real vintage item.  It belonged to mummy's older sister and is, in true 1970's style, brown and cream.  It's quite a spooky picture because she is the absolute image of her daddy, Son of C No. 1 at that age (although he only wore a dress once, but that's another story...)

 Funky Retro!

How posh am I in my sunsuit?

Naturally Miss PP had to have a vintage toy.  Sophie la Giraffe is 50 years old this year and has not changed since her "birth" in 1961.  She's an excellent teething toy as the old pearlies are just starting through and there is quite an amount of undignified dribbling from this little diva. 

http://www.sophielagirafe.co.uk

Have a happy Sunday, lovelies xxx

So Good to be Back Ho-o-ome Again...

... as The Tourists sang.

It means I can scour charity shops and sit in my workroom making things.

Today's purchases are

 Another lovely plate to add to my tiny rosebud collection

 Funky Jam Pot

  Must be strawberry, of course!

Man's shirt to reinvent.  You can't really see here but the lining is a fabulous grey stripe.  Watch for further adventures of this shirt.

Now the makes.  These are actually WiPs so I was really pleased to get them done.

 The yarn is a lovely soft cotton so even the most delicate frocks and blouses will be safe on these.

 Close up of the shell pattern I created.

This is Humpty Teddy from the Summer Rowan pattern book.  Yarn is Rowan Handknit Cotton.

It was also lovely to see Big Grandbaby C and Dog C.  Real names Jasmine and Bridget, in that order.

I have also made a big decision - stuff trying to get to 50 followers!  I've been stuck on 45 for so long that I'm going to do a giveaway anyhow.  News soon ...

Bouncing Back with an Apology

  Hello, lovelies, I'm back from my hols!

It was very hot!

Scorchio!

First of all, please accept my apologies for not posting comments on all your lovely blogs for ages.  I have been trying to catch up and they are all so interesting but I just haven't had the time to both read and comment.  Anyway, a little catch up on a week in Majorca with Mr C.

We stayed in Santa Ponsa, neither smart nor sophisticated but definitely not Magaluf either!  Much of our time was spent relaxing and chilling as we'd both had very stressful working problems recently.

Mr C chillaxing on the balcony

Otherwise we walked, swam (I donned my vintage swimsuit!), visited Palma (no photos as we'd taken so many last time), drank Pina Coladas and basically caught up with each other.

Balcony view

Lovely bay

Lovely boy

Mr C bravely leaping into the sea

The sea bravely leaping into me!

Of course, I had to take photos of textile things to get new ideas and inspiration.

Just loved the zingy colours of these bowls!

And naturally I took my knitting...

... and found a charity shop!

There was a fantastic medieval market taking place as part of the celebrations of the Festival of El Rey Jaime.

 

The sights, sounds and smells were fabulous

After many more lovely moments, the sun finally set on our hols and we came home.  

Now back to real life!

Crunchy Topped Plum Cake Recipe

As requested by Little Blue Mouse, here is the recipe for plummy yumminess...

CRUNCHY TOPPED PLUM CAKE

 Unfortunately I can't credit the recipe as it was an old page ripped out of a book which mum has had for ages.  As you see on my pic I forgot the plum pieces on top, but it still tasted good, especially with a big blob of cream on top!

Won't be blogging for a little while as I'm popping off for a much-need holiday to Majorca.  Hopefully I'll have nice things and lovely photos to post when I get back.

Much love to all x

Little Things Mean a Lot

Once more my days have been filled with lots of little things, many of which add up to a very pleasing big whole.  It was brought home to us this week that enjoying the small here and nows of life are incredibly important.  Mr C came home from work with the shocking news that one of his colleagues had died.  A young, fit man of 28 with two small children, he had been having headaches then suddenly a brain tumour took him.  So very sad. 

So here are some little things that made me happy this week:

1. Baking and making jam with our own produce.  

There's plum jam, plum and cherry jam and crunchy topped plum cake.

2. Eating our own produce!

Well, the cherries were our own, and I did make the syrup.  The strawberries and thick cream sneaked in from the shop somehow.

3. Creating new craft items to sell.

 Cheapo wooden coathangers, painted, shabbied and stencilled.  (the top button is a nice purple in real life, not a garish blue!)

Two great big tote bags in a new style for me.  I know it's a bit similar to other bags, but I created the pattern shape from scratch so it's sort of new.

Baby Williams.  They're just half the size of a grown up William, about 7 cm

4. Finishing UFO's

 Big Granddaughter C's hippy top.  All crocheted in Rowan Cotton Handknit.

I can't remember what wool this is, but I bought a ball as I was fascinated to see how it knitted up.  It was just enough for a little neckscarf and I made a brooch to complement it and fasten it across.  So cosy.

5. Buying gifts for lovely friends.

 Beautiful chunky Gisela Graham coasters

 Wooden heart photo frame.  This friend has three children...

 ... and this one has four!  The little gift is a wooden bunting reading Keep Calm and Carry On.

6. Playing with grandbabies.

(No pictures of Little Granddaughter C this week but the cuddles were lovely)

 Up

 Up

Down!

Bouncing on the bed is great fun, if a bit naughty!

Have a splendid Sunday, lovelies x