Fabric : Fibre : Family
This weekend The Husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary.
Our wedding day was simply perfect.
Our married life is even better.
Don’t get me wrong…we have trials and tribulations like everyone else. But we are a team and a family, and together we can face whatever life throws at us.
And each day I love this wonderful man even more.
Happy Anniversary my love.
October is turning out to be an overwhelming month.
All of it in a good way I hasten to add.
I’m so busy I’m meeting myself coming back.
Spending time with my family and friends, keeping the home in some semblance of order, and actually doing the required amount of study for the current module, have all served to keep me away from the loft and my sewing machine. This is, of course, the way I like my life to be and have no complaints but nothing in the way of finished projects to show at the moment.
Thankfully one of the Christmas presents is made. I only have 3 to go. I have everything I need to get these done except for a zip and some time.
That said, some projects are progressing very nicely, thank you very much:
It’s strange how buoyed I feel by this little recap.
Sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees, but this shows that things are getting done, even if it’s not as quickly as I’d like.
I hope you’re making progress too.
The Chaos Monsters have been back a nursery (which they call school) for a couple of weeks now.
You have no idea the esteem in which I hold their teachers!
Now it’s my turn to hit the books.
Obviously the very best place to study is your local coffee shop.
Especially when it’s analysis of the English language that you’re stuck with.
It’s a dry topic.
It needs lubrication.
And even I can’t justify wine at 9.30am.
The only problem occurs when you pass the newsagents on the way to said study hall coffee shop
Oh temptation!
Our part of the world is not the epicentre of the social whirl, but we do have a great public park that we use several times a week.
The kids love it.
It’s a great space.
And it has a Deep Dark Wood.
So obviously there must be a Gruffalo, no?
Button runs faster....she's already through the gate and heading for the Deep Dark Wood
Button and Daddy bravely lead the way. Archie works hard sniffing out those pesky Gruffalos.
Where can he be hiding?
I'm not afraid of a Gruffalo!
Come on Daddy....keep up! He's got to be here somewhere!
Do Gruffalos live under bridges...or is that Trolls?
Gruffalo hunting is awful tiring!
Gratuitous shot of my handsome boys.
The G Team! I LOVE these guys!
I love autumn.
It’s hands down, no quibbling, absolutely definitely my favourite season of them all.
What’s not to love about crisp, misty mornings, starry evenings, sweaters and boots?
And blackberries.
Today we visited Black Purl to drink coffee, eat croissants, discuss aprons and measure up for wardrobes. There was also some discussion about Farrow and Ball paint colours.
Kids and dogs ran amok. Archie made friends with Nino and Roxy (after some initial barky nonsense).
It was a pretty perfect morning.
Especially as BP’s lovely neighbour, who’s garden is a little on the wild side, had invited us to come in and pick the blackberries.
So we did.
We had a ridiculous amount of fun. And ended up with two large trays of blackberries, 8 stained hands and two very proud small people.
Who the hell needs a PlayStation?
Not us.
The blackberries are currently freezing and next week some of them will find their home in an apple and blackberry crumble cake, which will form the centre of a morning of knitting with friends.
We shall, of course, send a piece to the generous neighbour who shared his bounty with us.
Know that Peppa Pig will be making a guest appearance at your local garden centre open day.
Even if it is a crappy photo!
Don’t be fooled by the suspicious look on her face…I’ve not heard about anything else since we met Ms Pig this morning. She thinks I’m fabulous for knowing Peppa!
Needless to say The Boy wasn’t remotely interested in our celebrity porcine pal…the same couldn’t be said of the boa constrictor we met. Pity we couldn’t get a photo of that.
Where's the Easter Bunny, Mummy?
Can you see her yet?
Hurray!!! She's here!!!
Let's hunt for eggs!!!
Oooh I'd love to be playing with that remote control...but must. get. more. eggs!
I'm hiding under my hat...they won't see me eat this egg!
Hey, Auntie Alice...where were you? You missed the Easter Bunny!
I hope your Easter was as fun packed as ours.
And that you are as blessed with your friends as we are. Thanks, Alice.
Yesterday it was cold. Which, frankly, is nothing new here, as regular readers will have worked out by now.
However, it was clear and not raining/snowing/foggy/freezing or any combination of these. As The Boy had received some very smart new wellies for his birthday, we decided it was the perfect day to road test them.
We splashed in puddles
Chased after the rocket ball
Climbed things we really shouldn’t
And flew aeroplanes
Roll on spring, we say.
Today they have both gone down for a nap. I’m off to the loft to do some more on the jacket refashion. I hope to have something to show you soon. My niece and her husband are on their way up from Suffolk for a couple of days…he has a job interview tomorrow. Alice-who-isn’t-a-cat is coming tomorrow just to visit. So not much will be done here other than catching up and drinking wine.
…and I kinda like it that way.
Why?
Well, in case you’d missed it today is Valentine’s Day and Mr S is being romantic with a steak dinner, a bottle of red and banishing me to the bath with a good book and a glass of wine. Perfect!
I’d very clearly explained to him that flowers were not necessary.
Sigh!
I do love a disobedient husband!
Hope you’re having a lovely day too.
Lethargy is rife Chez Stitches. It’s decidedly annoying.
As someone who has spent the past 10 years either fending off crises, working ridiculous hours, or undertaking projects with specific, and, more often than not, very tight, deadlines, having a free schedule is messing with my head! I always work better to a deadline and not having one is a most peculiar feeling.
I’m running with this at the moment as I know that I’ll get the hang of this new rhythm of life soon enough, and find the enthusiasm to get to the things that I do want to do, but don’t have to do!
Things are moving forward, depite my butt being welded to the sofa. I’m hoping that just the action of doing will spark my creativity and, quite frankly, put a bit of a rocket up me!
Ingenue is off the needles and just needs the neckline stitching in place and the yarn ends weaving in. It’s been waiting 3 days already!
Multnomah is coming along very nicely thank you very much. I’m up to the feather and fan section.
We’ll ignore the siren song of the pinafore sprawled on the worktable not being sewn, shall we.
So as there is nothing particularly blog worthy happening with the needles, I thought I’d talk to you about my friends. They’ve all been mentioned here at one point or another, and, you’ve probably gleaned that they are a pretty awesome bunch. Funny, kind, generous, intelligent, talented, strong women, all of them.
But, dear reader, it may shock and dismay you to learn that there has been a concerted effort on the part of more than one of them to make me cry over the past few months.
Is that a collective gasp of disbelief I hear?
I kid ye not.
It all started with the wedding. More specifically the wedding gifts. They were all amazing and extraordinarily generous. All sorts of lovely things.
Then, upon our return from honeymoon I opened 2 boxes which hid, nestled in voluminous nests of bubble wrap, one of these:
And 6 of these:
Honestly! What are they like?
And what’s a girl to do?
Why, cry, of course!
But that’s not the end of it.
Oh no. There’s more…if you can believe it!
My Christmas present from Himmelbjerget is this beauty:
I mean, what kind of person gives their friend a vintage treadle sewing machine for Christmas.
And not any old vintage sewing machine, but a Jones! If you’re wondering about the significance of that…my married surname is Jones!
With a little TLC we reckon we’ll have her up and sewing again.
I’ll let you imagine the histrionics that ensued when I uncovered her.
Aren’t they just a big bunch of meanies?????
For meanies please read kind, thoughtful and generous. In short just old fashioned wonderful.
I suspect I might be the luckiest girl in the world.
