Fabric : Fibre : Family
Whilst I’ve been missing from this little corner of the blogosphere, I’ve been off doing ‘real life’ stuff. Most of it has just been the minutiae of everyday life, coupled with a real drive to slow things down (not entirely successfully, but we’re making a start).
However, you may have seen on Insta that Dave and I managed to bunk off parenting for a couple of nights and zip up the motorway to the Southern Lake District for a bit of time just being Mr and Mrs.
We’re back from our Autumn half term holiday in Wales and much the better for it. It’s been 4 years nearly since our last holiday so it was well overdue. After a delayed start for a day whilst we confirmed that the 100.4 temperature that Button was running wasn’t, in fact, scarlet fever (phew!) the week ran smoothly and we had a relaxed but still very lovely time doing pretty much nothing except walking, eating and watching movies.
Oh, I love these guys
Of course there was the minor incidents of small folk rampaging out of earshot and the neighbouring holiday makers knocking on our door at 6.30am begging for relief.
And The Incident of the (toy) Dragon in the Nighttime, which included a beanie baby dragon, a table lamp, and a pesky small boy, that could have ended up very badly had Button not realised that the Rubicon had been crossed and come to wake me.
That said, here are a few pics that aptly capture the real essence of our break and the beauty of the Welsh coast and countryside around Cardigan bay. They are phone photos because very early on I decided that I wanted to actually be in this holiday rather than spending time observing it from behind the lens. I highly recommend this strategy…making memories is more fun than simply capturing the images.
Searching for shells for Grandad. A very serious endeavour!
Llanerchaeron woodland walk
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
We had a lovely break.
The weather was cold but dry and perfect for a walk on the beach.
Extreme Toddler Sports were resurrected.
Huge hints about an addition to the family were dropped. Button would love a baby brother or sister…
The Boy…not so much!)
I suspect The Boy will win that particular vote!
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!
This time last week we were on our mini break in Ludlow.
How Bridget Jones is that? Mini Break!
Anyway…Ludlow
Fabulous architecture.
Fabulous food shops.
A 40 minute drive from beautiful Hereford with it’s spectacular cathedral.
And the opportunity to buy the. most. adorable vintage style pyjamas for 2 small people! I couldn’t tell you the name of the shop but I can tell you it’s in Valentine’s Walk in Ludlow and owned by the most adorable lady. If you can, go visit. The children’s clothes are to die for.
We stayed with Elaine and Sandy at 35 Lower Broad Street and cannot recommend them highly enough.
The welcome was warm but not remotely intrusive.
The accomodation spotless and comfortable. Fluffy towels. Comfy bed. Luxury toiletries. Tea, coffee, biscuits and bottled water. Magazines. Wi-fi. Books.
We were a 5 minute walk from the town centre so for once we could share a bottle of wine without having to worry about taxis.
And the breakfast!
Oh My!
I died. and. went. to. heaven.
I think we may go back again.
It was perfect.
Having looked at the “stash” (I can hear you laughing, you know! I do appreciate that it’s not a real stash but Mr S isn’t to be convinced, so work with me here) I realised that whilst I have fabric, very little of it is suitable for the new season.
Now I’m not one to jump the gun, but the sun has been making valiant attempts to push the clouds out of the way (generally by putting one hand on the cloud’s forehead and holding it at arms length). It’s not completely freezing cold and we’ve had a couple of days without rain. That counts as balmy around these parts.
So, reviewing the fabric crisis it was agreed that a trip to London might just be the order of the day. Whilst there are obviously some fabric shops north of Watford Gap, there is nothing to compare to the glory that is Berwick Street:
and, more specifically:
*Cue harps and choirs of angelic voices*
Now, once upon a time in a former life I used to work in Soho. And I mean work as in “gainfully employed” not “Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman”. My office was less than a five minute walk from The Cloth House. And because of my working hours and the commute and studies, I didn’t sew the whole time I worked there. Now I do have time to sew, I live at the other end of the country. There’s some irony in there somewhere.
Whilst Soho is a haven for all that is eccentric and eclectic in the English (in every good way and lots of weird ways), even I raised the odd eyebrow as I skipped through the door with a maniacal grin on my face. When I started stroking the stock they nearly had me ejected.
However, I clung to the doorframe long enough to make a few small purchases:
Dark denim to make a skirt
Double-knit for cardigan as pattern and a matching shell top
Black cotton gingham for a retro styled wrap blouse
I think I was very restrained. Phew! (We shan’t count the Burda, Marie Claire Idees and Debbie Bliss magazines, shall we?)
Feeling virtuous I skipped over to Loop, Ottolenghi and Gill Wing in Islington. Here I managed to escape having only purchased a 3-pack of cable needles. (Mainly because even I can’t justify £20 for a skein of yarn! No matter how luscious.)
All this shopping induced a great urge for refreshment. I’d arranged to meet Alice (the human one, not the feline one) who was in the mood for fizz. At 2.15 in the afternoon! Who am I to argue?
I’ll draw a line under the rest of the afternoon! Needless to say it was very giggly! And to the lady with the fabulous boots who I feel may have thought we were about to mug her, nope, we just thought your boots were amazing!
Coffee and cake fortified us for the tube journey home/hotel (we transport cattle in better conditions than we do humans on the Underground). All in all a rather splendid day.