life in a Northern town Archives - Page 5 of 9

My new baby

October 9, 2012

I know lots of lovely bloggy ladies are expecting at the moment…but don’t get your hopes up. I’d be thrilled but have more chance of winning the lottery! Without a ticket! 😉

And no…we haven’t got another fur baby either. Alice-who-is-a-cat is getting increasingly ancient so we are letting her see out her days in peace without being tormented by a larger fur-ball than she.

No…for some time now I’ve been dreaming of having a second regular sewing machine. A lovely older one, with a super straight stitch. Obviously when I renovate the sewing loft (which will probably be in about 10 years!) I’ll get the Jones treadle machine up and running for quilting.

But until then I’ve just been dreaming. I’m mean, I already have 6 sewing machines. For goodness sake, I’m turning into Peter! 😉

On Sunday we had planned to go to a local vintage fair as the kids were away with the grandparents and we had the day to ourselves.

But neither of us felt like it.

So we ended up at a bric-a-brac sale at one of our local charity venues.

It seems the Sewing Gods had other plans for me on Sunday.

There is hardly a mark on her. She sews like a dream.

Look at that stitch…it’s just perfect.

So The Husband, being the absolute ~~enabler~~ sweetie that he is offered to buy it for me as a treat for getting through the exams.

He’s the best.

And no fool when it comes to an absolute bargain.

I’m a very happy, very lucky lady!

Brockholes – FO 22/2012

September 24, 2012

This sweater has been knitted forever and has been languishing in a drawer waiting for colder weather…which has arrived with a vengeance in the last couple of weeks. Sunday was the first opportunity I had to get a photo of it. And they are not glamorous in any way shape or form, but at least you can see it earning it’s keep.

You’ll remember the yarn from the ill-fated Fairhope cardigan I made at the end of last year and promptly ~~unravelled~~ got Ma to unravel.

The pattern is Placed Cable Aran from Interweave Knits:

You don’t need to be particularly eagle eyed to notice that my version is slightly different from the original pattern.

Yep…instead of cabling both front and back to create the circular cable, I just cabled front to achieve this effect.

And whilst this isn’t the most stylish sweater in the world, nor has the yarn taken kindly to being frogged and re-knitted…this is a spectacularly comfortable and cosy sweater that is perfect for a Sunday afternoon walk around your local nature reserve.

Button wore a fabulously inappropriate outfit, having spent the previous couple of hours on a barge at a friend’s party. She just threw on her wellies and off she went!

The Boy was more suitably attired for scrambling about:

Yep…a giant carved acorn with a happy small boy.

Brockholes is a fantastic afternoon out with small people. It’s a great walk:

There are woods in which to hunt Gruffalo:

How can one so small be so fearless?

And there’s a play area that could entertain for hours:

Bumblebee wellies!

Dinosaur wellies!

I can’t wait to take this sweater back to Brockholes for another visit. The kids are keen to go too!

Scarecrow festival

September 9, 2012

Every September one our local villages, Charnock Richard, holds a scarecrow festival. Every year that the children have been home it has been bucketing down with rain for the festival weekend. This weekend the weather has been glorious, so we finally got the opportunity to take the children to see the scarecrows.

Some people themed their scarecrows around children’s characters:

Postman Pat

Red Riding Hood

Denis the Menace and Gnasher

Tintin and Snowy

Oscar the Grouch

Our friends from Toy Story

We also saw some favourite films:

The Great Escape

Superman

War Horse

Local Olympian Bradley Wiggins even made an appearance:We had a lovely day, capped off at the end by the opportunity to sit in a real fire engine:

Sunday afternoons don’t get much better than that!

Mooching on a Monday

June 25, 2012

The past few weeks have been hustle and bustle. It’s all good but I’m craving a slightly slower pace. Today was the first opportunity for a little simple domesticity.

Whilst the children were at nursery I made bias binding and did the machine sewing to attach it to my dress.

Tonight I can curl up on the sofa with The Husband and hand stitch whilst we watch a movie. This dress is so nearly finished.

After nursery the children and I went to the park for a couple of hours to make the most of a dry day. We met grandparents and friends from nursery, purely accidentally. We played stick ball and football and had lunch in the cafe.

Then whilst they scootered up and down the street with the neighbours children I attacked (and beat into submission)the 3 foot high weeds in the garden, and cut the peony flowers that had been battered by the winds and rain over the weekend.

I need to plant more peonies!

And some of the lovely new peony roses from David Austin.

David Austin’s beautiful Royal Jubilee rose
Image courtesy of www.davidaustinroses.com

Doing all this gentle, domestic mooching, I remembered what life was like before I started to finish my degree.

And what it will be like in just over 3 months when I am done.

And I’m excited for a future full of simple pleasures at home and with my family.

A pretty great start to the week, no?

I hope your Monday has been as wonderful.

No relation

June 10, 2012

I’ve recently come across a shop in Clitheroe which has recently rebranded itself under the name Pendle Stitches.

In case you’re wondering I have no connection or affiliation with this shop or its website.

In which we cheer loudly!

April 23, 2012

We have been on tenterhooks for months waiting for the school allocations to be announced, as Button starts primary school in September.

We are lucky enough to have 3 primary schools near to us, and one of them is one of the best schools in the county with excellent OFSTED reports.

I fell in love with this school when I visited during their open evening last year. It seems really creative, with an emphasis on all sorts activities, not just academic results.

I’ve been driving all my friends and family crazy with my wittering on about how we really, really want her to go to this school.

Today the announcements were made.

We got the school we wanted.

We are all very, very happy.

And we cheered very, very loudly!

Heidi and Finn cowl neck jumper dress – F/O 6/2012

February 21, 2012

I’ve got to tell you its a miracle anything is getting done here at the moment, but although I could do with more time and more sleep it’s nice knowing that this is a temporary thing as the end of my first module creeps nearer.

Last week was half-term holidays which I spent with the kids and The Husband and abandoned my study schedule. It was lovely if rather foolish as it means that this week I have one session of English and two sessions of French to catch up. As this is approximately 36 hours of study and I don’t have 36 hours to spend on it, the word that springs to mind is “eeeep”!

I have to say that without hesitation I’ll make the same choice the next nursery holiday…it’s so worth it.

Little ice-creamy faces are a joy to behold.

Then, I spent 5 hours waiting to be towed home from Manchester on Saturday when I should have been at a tutorial for my French module. Fingers crossed his car will be mended soon. But how lucky are we to have one car, let alone two?

So, to maintain some semblance of sanity, I’ve been sneaking the odd half hour here and there to do a bit of sewing and in the evenings I sit and knit. The laceweight Ella is knitted and blocked and currently being sewn up (which is tedious so only a bit is getting done every now and again when I’m feeling a bit perky).

I’ve also finished a cardigan for Button. I photographed it at the weekend but every picture was overexposed so I’ll do them again soon.

And today I’ve just finished the cowl neck jumper dress from Heidi and Finn, also for Button.

I cannot tell you how adorable this little dress is. Button has a temperature today and is currently snoozing so I’ll get modelled pictures soon, but really wanted to share it with you.

I’ve used a Heidi and Finn pattern before for the refashioned jacket I made for Button and again I found the pattern well drafted and the instructions extremely comprehensive. Even if you’re a complete beginner you could sew this dress. I sewed it on my normal machine as I didn’t have 4 spools of thread for the overlocker. Simples!

The fabric was gifted to me by the lovely, lovely Himmelbjerget during her recent destash and is a beautifully soft and cosy velour. You can see the fabric better in this close up shot:

Adorable.

This is such an amazing pattern. I want to make it again and again. In fact I think I very probably will do! In this incarnation it’s perfect for play dates or for church, but you can make it more or less dressy dependent on your choice of fabric.

So thank you to Himmelbjerget for the fabric and thank you to Heidi and Finn for another splendid pattern.

If you have small ladies who like a dress I highly recommend you make this one for them. At least once.

Valentines dinner

February 15, 2012

For Valentines day the children went for a sleep over at Grandma’s and The Husband cooked us a romantic dinner.

We had home-made soda bread and home-made butter:

I can’t believe how simple butter is to make. We’re converted.

We had this with the wild boar sausage and rabbit cassoulet:

Followed by Valentines chocolate cake:

All washed down with chilled fizz:

A beautiful evening with my handsome husband.

Thank you, sweetheart.

That was the year that was

December 28, 2011

I can’t believe Christmas is over and we are heading rapidly to the end of another year.

I love this little hiatus between festivities and New Year celebrations. It’s a time to relax with the family and take a breather to reflect on the year that was and plan for the year yet to be.

It’s been a productive year in many ways…I’ve finished 26 projects this year, my favourites being

The common thread with these projects is that I took my time, paid attention to detail, fit and finish, and it really paid off. These items are worn a lot!

I think this is the biggest lesson I’ve learned this year…enjoy the process…take the time…do it properly. It’s the only way to get results that you love and will wear again and again.

The year has been successful in other ways.

We’ve finally finished with the adoption process and both children are now officially ours…we all have the same surname now, which is more joyful than you can imagine.

I’ve committed to the last two modules of my degree…I’m on the home stretch now and by this time next year it will be done and dusted and I’ll hopefully have the results.

My niece and her family have moved to the same postcode as us. It means that we are finally getting to spend lots of time together and that really is delightful.

And despite Pa SIL launching himself through the loft hatch, and the Ma’s and niece spending far too much time in hospital for anyone’s liking, we’ve all made it to the end of the year more or less intact. This is a blessing. Long may it continue.

On checking my goals page I see that the stash has been well and truly busted, although you might notice some new stuff creeping in at the edges!!!

I couldn’t help it.

Honestly.

And whilst I didn’t make a dent in the list of TNT patterns, I am getting nearer to having a pattern for the perfect slim legged trousers. Just a little more work.

But that said, I’m still very happy indeed with what’s been achieved during this year, both in my own right and as a family.

Now I just need to think about what I’d like to do next year. There are some big things already in the plan…but they’ll have to wait for another post.