Purl and Seam

handmade in Lancashire

The Princess diary

April 22, 2013

Early Saturday morning was cold and crisp and sunny.  I know this as I was up with the lark and heading for the train station, heading to Walthamstow to meet a princess.

Yes…you heard right.

A Sewing Princess to be precise.  Silvia was in town for the weekend and we’d arranged to meet up and explore Walthamstow market.

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I was decidedly nervous.  Despite all evidence to the contrary I actually quite shy…not the sort of shy that actually stops me doing things, but the kind of shy that can make me gauche in new social circumstances with new people.

My nerves were groundless.  Silvia is every bit as delightful as you’d expect from her blog.  She is warm, and funny and has a megawatt smile. Even when I talked endlessly about the kids!

After coffee and a walk along the market, with which we were decidedly underwhelmed, we decided on a change of plan and headed off to the Goldhawk Road, with a loose plan of catching up with Rachel, who had organised a sewing meetup.

As we sat in Costa grabbing a coffee, I recognised stylish hair and a lovely skirt whisking into the loo.  Poor Karen was greeted by two joyous sewists as she exited…now she knows how Kenneth King felt!

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We were quickly welcomed into the group and found ourselves joining a shoal of sewists heading off for lunch.  What an unexpected surprise and pleasure.

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What a wonderful, wonderful, day!  Sewists are without doubt the most genuine and lovely group of people you are ever likely to meet.

Thank you Silvia and all the other amazing ladies for making a trip to London very special indeed.

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Home

April 5, 2013

Well, I’m home after our visit to Alice-who-isn’t-a-cat, but note to self…next time I do a long journey with the kids…put one in the front and one in the back.  Divide and conquer.  I’m far too traumatised to tell you all the details, but flying shoes were endured at one time, and I’m hoarse from bellowing at them to behave! 😉

It was worth it, though!

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We had a lovely break.

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The weather was cold but dry and perfect for a walk on the beach.

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Extreme Toddler Sports were resurrected.

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Huge hints about an addition to the family were dropped. Button would love a baby brother or sister…

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The Boy…not so much!)

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I suspect The Boy will win that particular vote!

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We are having a quiet day at home today. And missing Alice and Huggy immensely.

However, tomorrow is the Cake and Bake show.  I’m beyond excited!

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Greenstick

March 26, 2013

xray_edited-1The wibbly pink arrow points to the greenstick fracture in Button’s little finger…sustained this morning whilst partaking in the morning ritual, Chez Stitches, of racing round the house like loons before breakfast.

A quick trip to A&E was initially vetoed by the patient on account of her not wanting to miss out on the school trip to the petting farm.

Promises that I would drive her there myself if necessary resulted in a very exciting visit to the hospital which included two x-rays, having the offending finger strapped up, getting a photo of the x-ray for the family album, and more stickers proclaiming her bravery than you can shake a stick at…green or otherwise.

And we made it to school in time to catch the bus to the farm. Which means that, for today at least, I’m officially in the good books of one small person here.

But…I’ve got this sneaking feeling that this won’t be the last time I have to throw on some clothes and dash a child to the emergency room at 8am in the morning…

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Birthday

March 17, 2013

Saturday was The Husband’s birthday.

We had a quiet family day with lunch out at a local pub, just us four…

IMG_7367_edited-1In the evening we were joined by the grandparents for cake and curry (not necessarily in that order)…

IMG_7374_edited-2I’m afraid I don’t have the vocabulary to express just how blessed I am to have met this man, or how much joy he has brought to my life.

He is amazing. Truly the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.  He’s kind and brilliant and thoughtful.  An old fashioned gentleman with a great sense of humour.  He works so hard for our family both in and out of the home.

He is my true love and worth waiting for through all the years it took for him to find me.

Happy birthday, my love.  I hope you know just how much I love you.

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Mother’s Day

March 11, 2013

I have to tell you that I had the most splendid Mother’s day.

Tulip from Button

Tulip from Button

A lie in was followed by breakfast in bed…bacon sandwich, tea and the time to watch the news in peace.

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Uninterrupted time in the shower and to blow dry my hair.

Daffodils grown by The Boy

Daffodils grown by The Boy

Lunch with Ma and Ma and Pa SIL, cooked by The Husband, with delightfully behaved children.

Roses from The Husband

Roses from The Husband

The last hour before bedtime curled up on the sofa with small peeps and a movie.

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Red Velvet cake by The Husband…because we had Red Velvet cupcakes at our wedding.

A quiet evening with a chilled glass of wine all resulting in an equally chilled Mummy.

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4m of this a.maz.ing navy Roma jersey from Fabric Godmother

And, most importantly of all, these two little munchkins, without whom my life would be incomplete.

My beautiful and amazing babies

My beautiful and amazing babies

I am incredibly blessed with my wonderful family.

I do hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day too.

 

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4

February 11, 2013

Yesterday was The Boy’s 4th birthday. It seems my babies aren’t babies any more!

IMG_7138_edited-1The heartbreakingly sad little boy who first came home to us is gone. I was watching some old video clips last week and the transformation is truly astonishing. Now he’s our family showman!

He has a finely tuned sense of humour and great comic timing.  He’s always singing and dancing and bouncing around.  He loves pranks and mischief and frequently laughs himself silly over some private joke.  It’s a joy to behold.

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He has beautiful manners, is kind and thoughtful, and throws the most spectacular tantrums you’ve ever seen. They are a force of nature!

He has overcome such enormous challenges…his bravery and determination is breathtaking.

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So, happy birthday, our wonderful, amazing little man.

I am proud and blessed to be your mummy.

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One down…

January 17, 2013

The wee small boy was in hospital for his first operation today.  All went well and he was done and home again by lunch time.

Thankfully cannulas were not required.  I am beyond grateful for this.

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fake sleeping…note the half-scoffed biscuit!

He was brave and funny during the whole adventure…teasing the nurses by pretending still to be asleep.  Promise of a Cadbury’s Fudge at home soon put paid to those shennagins.

We are now waiting for his next hospital date which will be to have his squints corrected.  I think I’m going to be a whole lot more sanguine about that now I know he’s fine with anaesthetic.

And whilst he’s had a little snooze this afternoon I’ve finally made it into the sewing loft and have made a start on paper fitting the pattern for The Husband’s shirt.

Next stop…the toile!  See….slow sewing…doing it right.  It won’t last! 😉

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5

January 14, 2013

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It’s so hard to find the words for this post.

Our amazing, sparky, funny little girl celebrated her 5th birthday on Saturday.

IMG_7019_edited-1I cannot quite come to grips with just how grown up this little poppet is.

IMG_7041_edited-1Every single day she amazes us.

She is bold and brave, funny and charming, wild and loud, cuddly and loving.

She is so many things…all of them wonderful.  It’s so difficult to find the words.

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So I shall quote one of her little school friends.  A five year old boy with charm and wisdom far beyond his years.

He told his mother that he adores Button because “she lights up the world”.

I couldn’t agree more.  She lights up our world every second of the day.

 

 

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Perfectly perky party people play princesses and pirates

December 21, 2012

Oh, I just can’t stop myself.

I blame the tinsel!

Little people had their dance class Christmas party last weekend and I promised the family some pictures. So here are my adorable littlies in their party finery!

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IMG_6767_edited-1I can take no credit for these costumes, they came from their elder sisters’ dressing up box.  I also take no credit for the shockingly outrageous posing of my children.  They love to play up to the camera.

These shots, taken whilst putting up the Christmas decorations only confirm this…

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IMG_6751_edited-1Shameless!

This week was The Boy’s Christmas singalong…he was an Elf!

IMG_6812_edited-1Too cute!

Both of them!

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Picture perfect purple for a prickly party princess – FO 30 & 31/2012

December 16, 2012

Well we almost didn’t make it to the party today…but that was more to do with Madam Button von Stroppypants having a major attitude problem and Mummy foolishly rising to the bait!

However all was resolved 5 minutes before the allotted hour and following a quick change, our prickly party princess was ready to go.

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You may remember this dress from That Bloody Wedding…the pattern is New Look 6881 and it’s a pattern I just love.

NL_6881LThe fabric is a poly duchesse from Abakhan lined with poly habotai also from Abakhan.

As the dress is sleeveless it really needed a cardigan and this is the finished Langston

Langston

knitted in Debbie Bliss Rialto DK.

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I did a very cursory block of this cardigan hence the frill isn’t lying as flat as I’d like, but this doesn’t really detract from the overall loveliness of this little cardie.

As you probably know by now, I’ve never met a cable I didn’t like, and this is no exception.

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Such a lovely pattern…one I can definitely see myself making again.

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And madam had a lovely time at the party and is now, finally asleep.  Don’t be fooled by those big blue eyes!  I’m off for a very stiff drink 😉

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