Getting my groove back....

Hurrah, its started to to happen, I am getting my groove back.  After what feels like months of losing touch with my creative spirit, a time when I felt kind of lost and not in touch with who I am.  It gives me great pleasure to type this post.  Indeed my groove is finally returning.  Over the two weeks I have found that 'need' to make things has been quite overwhelming.  Was it the holiday? Time to recapture my child like spirit as I played with my children, is it the fact that each day brings more light as we slowly move through the last few weeks of this season? Is it the promise of all things warm and outdoorsy or is it just that need? The need that 'non making' people think is a form of insanity.... Whatever it is, all around me I see beauty and the need to connect with it.  My week away brought evenings curled up in front of the fire, the children sleeping off their busy days, peace and quite was all around, so I would pull out my knitting and dream of the warmer days to come whilst I toasted my toes after a day of walking in the cold and splashing in puddles.

Since returning home the usual post holiday blues has kicked in, I cried when I dropped my guys off  into school after the break.  How I miss them.  I have a list far to long to feel comfortable with, filled with things to do, calls to make and places to be.  I gave myself a weeks grace and in that time I have slowly caught up on things and allowed myself the time I needed to get myself into a better place.  My better place being my sewing room, Its the end of the day now, a Saturday and I feel contented... my finished sewing pile is finally bigger than the pile of 'to do'!

All that is left is to iron the sewing, tidy up the threads that have carelessly been left on the floor, turn off the light and head up stairs, yes contented after a days sewing, a reward of a movie and a big pot of tea...

Yes  I feel my groove is back...

Hope your weekend is filled with all that you love...

Do you have a place....

Do you have a place?  A place in your mind, a place that you can easily slip off to.  A place that nurtures your soul when times are hard, a place you can go to when the world gets a little too much, a happy place filled with warmth, or simply a place that your mind drifts off to when fall asleep.My happy place for the last decade has been a moment in my life, a happy moment, I remember actually picking the place, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of that moment.  I knew it would stay with me for a while.  

I was sat late on a summers afternoon (September 1996), just before the evening drew near, I could feel the suns rays kissing my skin, my feet dipping and swishing in the cooling swimming pool water, I was sat under a palm tree, the sound of the sea right behind me filled the air, I looked at a beautiful old plantation styled house, no one else was around me except for a fellow traveller reading quietly under the protective shade of a tree... yes this was my place and over the last decade I have visited it in my head many many times.

NOT ANYMORE... I have a new place and maybe after over ten years its time for a change.  My week away with the children was amazing, it was filled with laughter, walks, seaside, sharing food, long conversations and swimming, but most of all just relaxing with the two most important people in the world to me... my guys. One early evening we were driving back from a day of 'doing and seeing' we diverted off the track a little to check out a pretty place... we watched the sky change right there before our eyes.  We abandoned the car on a dirt track and ran up the hill... three pairs of eyes watched in silence as the sky played out its mystery to us. Never in my life have I seen such a sight, this marshmallow sky put on such a display of colour it touched our very souls.  I looked at my children's faces and I knew they shared this moment with me.

Yes I have a place, a special place filled with  the beauty of nature, a place to remind me of 'The Big Picture' and no matter were I am in life or what I am doing or feeling, there is beauty and love all around...

   

Winter time on the beach...

Its been two months now since my last visit to the beach and with all the snow we have had I have been pretty accepting of the fact that beach weather it is not.  The time has come however when I feel that little place in my soul is crying out for the wind in my hair, the sand beneath my feet and the breathtaking awesomeness of the sea...So me and my guys are going to take a little trip to the seaside this half term, we have our waterproofs and wellies already put aside, the flask is ready and the hot chocolate and marshmallows have been bought in readyness to take with us our little adventure.

With this in mind I have been backing some fabric with an old piece of oil cloth that I no longer use, its not perfect but it will keep the cold and wet off our bottoms as we sit and take in the fresh air and drink our warming chocolate...  Its as easy as four seams and cutting all around the edge with pinking sheers so it does not fray... if it works OK I might give some thought to a more professional looking one with bias bound edges when I return as I have an unhealthy collection of oilcloth and plastic table covers that I have collected over the years ever since children came into my life... 

I have a gift for my older child this holiday, a new camera, a much better one than his previous one  and I am looking forward to spending some one to one time with him and our camera's as I try to train his eye and get him used to the feel of his new toy.  A gift that I hope he will hold to his heart and will always carry with him through his life, not the camera but the skill. I hope as my Dad inspired me I hope to inspire my child with the same love of pictures, capturing a moment in time, a memory, something to trigger off the senses, smells, sounds and taste's of that moment...

Just a few days of school left now then its some quality time with my babies and all the things we love... Time together, time outdoors, creating, eating, walking, chilling and time on the beach...

OF TOPIC... Check out this song, Yael Naim New Soul (Click on to the coloured words for link). Its a beautiful and very simple song, I love everything about it, the video especially makes me smile... such a wonderful HAPPY little song...  

Saturday Night in...

Saturday night...its funny how Saturday night always feels like a special night, a night throughout my life that has always been the night to do the things I like best.  As a child it was being allowed to stay up late and watch telly with my Mommy, my head resting on her knees as she would wind my hair around her hand.  As a teenager it was the night I was allowed out, to meet up with friends and listen to music and talk about boys.  As a young women it was a night for going out dancing after spending an obscene amount of time getting ready...Then as a married women it was the evening for dinner parties...then came along the babies and it was kind of lost in the blurr that is nursing and nappies.  Suddenly this time passes without you even being aware of it, your babies are old enough now that they do not need you for their every move.  SO I am back to making Saturday evening a nice night, if not indeed special.  So after lots of cuddles and silly stories at bedtime with my children, I wait till they are both asleep and I take a moment to watch their beautiful faces relax and they enter a deep state of sleep, my Angels...  The house is quiet, its just me... after a tidy up and a couple of chores I pour myself a glass of nice wine, I potter in the kitchen and put some food on for supper and whilst that simmers away I sit on the side of the kitchen unit and pick up my knitting...
Scarf knitting, easy, mindless knitting whilst listening to good music and just relaxing in my home.  Its warm in my kitchen and with the snow freezing on the road and hills outside I feel cosy and safe. The gentle aroma from my burning candles fills the air with the smell of spring.
I settle down to eat my supper, my company being the latest Country Living magazine, which when it pops through my letter box I still get that thrill... Lately though I have been a little disappointed with the contents, not so this month, thankfully it was not filled with red roses and hearts, there are only so many of these I can handle, no it was page after page of goodness...an article on working from the home with pictures to inspire, beautiful photographs of Acers (my favourite outdoor plants) Vintage fashion...every single item of clothing I would wear, fabulous pictures of the Cotswold's a place I spent a lot of time in when I lived in Oxfordshire... and of course lovely homes to poke around in.  I am also really enjoying the month by month account with Elisabeth Luard, when I first read about this lady I was slightly disappointed as it just did not interest me, how wrong I was, I have loved following her lifestyle and the amazing food she cooks and her whole ethos of bringing the family in on every part. If I am lucky enough to be a grandmother one day I hope I am like her...

Talking of food, well I cooked Mushroom Stroganoff, out of a need to use up too many mushrooms that seem to have accumulated unused in my fridge.. it hit the spot nicely...
Once the dishes were cleared away I sat at the table and looked at my children art work,  flicked through my sons Marvel comic and thought... I can draw like that... OK I had ago and maybe I need to admit defeat or practice a little more... It was a nice treat to sit and draw something without a purpose and to use my children's NEW pens...
So the evening is getting on now, I move into my livingroom, a room I only really use in the late evening, I am a kitchen kind of girl, I  settle myself down and I cast on a my new project...
Whilst I snuggle down to watch a couple of movies...This movie is a favourite of mine, I have lost count of the times I have watched it, yes it is very loosely based on the book, you do have to look hard for the similarities, its a beautiful film with a most superb soundtrack...At times it just takes my breath away with its sadness... 

SO the bewitching hour is close at hand and its time to close the house down and retire to bed... yes Saturday nights are special, they change with each year of my life... for now though I am happy with the free time it gives me to potter around my home, cooking, knitting, sewing, drawing and watching movies... yes its a peaceful evening... I wish you an enjoyable weekend and an even better week to come...

Music I am listening to... She's only Happy in the Sun by Ben Harper

Music my children are enjoying...Fake Tales of San Fransisco by Artic Monkeys

Both tracks came by a very special couple as a gift to me, a couple who love music as much as me, I asked if they would mind putting some tracks together for me for my ipod and I got 4 fabulous Cd's of very beautiful music that so suits my present mood and these two tracks in particular have caught our imagination...

Sunrise on a new month....

What can I say... I watched the sun rise, an awesome sunrise at that, on the start of a new month.  I can not tell you how relieved I am that January is over.  Now I know we still have a while of winter left, this is OK, this month holds the promise of a half term holiday with my children and possibly if we are really lucky... a few signs to lift my weary soul that spring is finally on its way...The weekend brought many things to the 'Suzie Sews' household... Time with friends and family, sharing all things good in life.  Projects got finished...
... another winter hat
... fabric was drooled over, you know that great time whilst you are planning your next project and you try different colours together and different textures... yes lots of ideas going around my head, all with the summer season in mind, thoughts of outdoor eating and time spent on beaches and under trees... picnic rugs and place mates that hold cutlery etc... yes lots of ideas...
The next BIG knitting project was decided upon. I love the easy shape to this jacket, its meant to be knitted in the Eco wool, but as a colourful person I do not think I could do this amount of knitting in such a neural, although beautiful, colour... so I have opted for... 
...GREEN!!!

So with the new month upon us and I am managing to get on top of things now, I hopefully will be back to blogging on a regular basis, I thank you for the comments and emails whilst I have been some what lacking in this department... I do have a week off line later in the month, in the meantime I am trying to get back into my little blog world and starting to catch up with some of my favourite blogs...

Thank you for bearing with me...  OK on with 'making'... what are you up to?