Today, this day...I am a city girl!

I swap my boots and pull on my posh shoes, throw my handbag over my shoulder and meet up with a friend and head for the city. A country girl, that's me, not a big fan of city living and not really a good shopper, but on this beautiful sunny autumnal day with the leaves falling like confetti I swapped my usual day to day routine for a trip into the city...

As you would expect the day included drinking and people watching in funky little cafes...
A little bit of retail therapy, topping up on my bead stash...
Looking around for views the city could entice me with...
A stroll around the Craft Village and a fabric shop, yes all in all, this was my kinda day in the city, no chain stores, no being elbowed by grumpy shoppers. A gentle stroll around the best the city can over in the way of crafty goodness, retro magic and vintage chic. Oh and followed by a long and lazy lunch, a treat indeed.
After all this retail therapy I am taking my head full of ideas of things to make, a box of felt n thread, a bag of yarn and of course my two most favourite people in the world and we are heading to the beach for the half term break. A crafty box is all made up for the children for the days when the weather keeps us indoors, our wellies are packed and our winter coats, hats and gloves are all ready for us to head off for a few days.

I wish you a fabulous week, what ever you are doing... now how much felt do you think I can use in a week.......................................................

Watching the seasons pass by...

Is it an age thing, that suddenly the time is going by too quickly? Is it that I see my children growing too fast? Is it the end of another summer, time to hunker down for the worst of the British weather...

I am aware of each and every passing season this year, more so than usual, the changes, the smells and mostly the colours that each season brings with its own particular time.
The way the light changes, the warmth or lack of it from the sun, the colours of the moors around me, what the farmers are doing with their crops and what animals are snaffling around.
The seasons are also marked by my hands, what I desire in my hands changes with the passing of the seasons, cooling cottons in the summer and rich warm wool in the winter, I sew more in the summer and I knit more in the winter. The food I cook changes also, my cookery books lay out before me as I try and look for economical heart warming dishes and I think about getting the slow cooker out for another stint of 'stew' cooking...
So as it gets darker and the weather chills the heart of the home, a new 'hottie' cover is made to keep me snug at night...
I love this spotty fabric, I love spots, but I bought this years ago and have used many meters of the fabric, it always makes me smile, especially when I look at my youngest babe and I remember I made fleece nappy covers with this happy fabric, hard to imagine now as my youngest runs into school with mischief in his eyes... Yes the passing of time features daily for me at the moment. Lots of thoughts of this time last year, so much is the same and equally so much is so different.

Whatever you are up to as the last days of Autumn pass us by I wish you happiness and good health. Half term here next week, I am busy sorting out crafty things for the children and I to do as we run off for our last week to our little place by the sea and bid it a heartfelt sad goodbye.

Chasing away the blues...

As another evening brings the weekend to a close, I sit here at my kitchen table while my babes sleep peacefully, a glass of rich red wine in hand to send a glow to my cheeks, I reflect on the last few days. The coughs and colds have dragged us down a little and halted our usual play. Not one to miss an opportunity though I did snuggle up under the quilts with my wee ones and start to sew together my blanket...I am so loving the colors and the peaceful therapy the repetitive action this project brings to me.
Its also been a time for catching up on a few unfinished projects, including the knitted cupcakes, usually finished off with a cherry I thought a change was in order and I used the lovely personable 'Little Cotton Rabbits' free pattern for a cupcake flower, rather pleased with the results too.
There is only so much of 'staying in' my boys and I can cope with... so when the calpol had kicked in we escaped for the weekend by the beach, only we never got to the beach, we relished the gifts of Autumn and went on a little nature walk in its place.
With the trees showing off their own fireworks, the chill in the air and the beautiful light that filters through the late afternoon air, it was a perfect day for a walk through the woods. The children running through the fields and splashing in the stream...
...yes if only Autumn did not mark the end of the summer I could truly enjoy this season...

I hope your weekend was bathed in the rays of the Autumnal sun and your time was spent with loved ones...

Bag it...

We have been hit by swine flu... well a bad cold or what ever seems to be the thing that's going around. Its meant time not leaving the home for many days. With lots of cuddles and calpol!!!Nights spent checking temperatures and days changing bedding. But with a few hours of children spent curled up on the sofa covered in quilts sipping juice, I actually sat down and got my sewing head on...
Its Autumn, which means a new season which in turn equals a new bag...
So taking my inspiration from the colours of the season I played about with some scraps and put this little number together...
A bag that makes me smile!!!
Amazing what a little bundle of felt can inspire....