French Knots

What a weekend!

So what do you happens when 20 of your nearest and dearest get together in your little house?

 
Lots of eating, chatting, giggling, little girl toenail painting, baby gurgling, oh yes and a little bit of drinking later on too! We had a 13 person sleepover - 2 babies, 1 toddler, 3 small boys and one Big Sister along with their parents. What fun and what a late night - we stayed up chatting and playing a daft music game until it was tomorrow, you've got to let your hair down sometimes. It was lovely to watch all the little cousins playing together, even though they don't see each other very often they all had super fun!

The prospect of people flying in and driving over from hither and yon gave some motivation to get all those little jobs done - so there is now a lock on the bathroom door, the toilet has been fixed ( off I went to the plumbers merchant ' can I have one of these please?' - £1.50 and 2 hours of Mr FK's time and a very large spanner, ta da the toilet flushes properly for the first time in 18 months!) pictures hung and those piles of bits and bobs cleared away.

We have a row of tall bookcases in our bedroom, to make a nook for storing stuff and I've been meaning to make a curtain to cover the gap between the bookcases and the wall for about 2 years. So I found a bit of fabric that my sister in law gave me a while ago and amazingly it was just the right size. When she saw it she knew just where it had come from, a duvet cover my Mum had given to her and my brother many years ago that had torn but was such a jaunty blue and white stripe that she saved it. And gave it to me. Serendipity.  

Sewing up a storm

We are having a family get together this weekend so some Christmas presents will be sent on their way ready for the big day. So I've been sewing. Like mad! Nearly all done and have really enjoyed myself, full of ideas and loving putting different threads and fabrics together.Just need more hours in the day to do all the things whizzing around in my imagiation.

I've also repurposed a towel and a pillowcase and made a new bathmat, along the lines of Soule Mama's in her Handmade Home book. She sewed strips of towel on the front but as I had an elongated rectangle towel from Ikea I didn't have enough for strips so used a couple of hearts instead.

No that's not sunshine, despite it being midmorning it's still dark so the light is on! Looks a bit wonky, should perhaps have layed it flat properly before taking the pic!

There's something so pleasing in creating something useful from bits and bobs I already have, something for my family to use even if it's only for their soggy feet.

Can anyone make use of this?

It's an original ClothKits pattern that was given to me by a friend, it's not something I'll get round to using I don't think so if you would like it please leave a comment.

Right, time to cuddle The Baby Brother, tooth number three is on it's way (I know, he's taken no notice of my request to grow as slowly as possible!) so he needs a lot of snuggling......oh good!  

Got a minute?

Pop over to visit Amanda Makes . She's my crafty and creative friend who I have been nagging about blogging for ages, she's taken the plunge and would love some friendly visitors. She's a knitty, crocheting,sewing, felt loving type just like us so she'll fit right in!

She is the talent behind this amazing quilt

  which she gave The Baby Brother for his Christening, naturally I'm stroking it on a regular basis for him until he's old enough to love it's fantastic colour combinations himself. What more could a boy want from his Godmother?!

Friday

Despite the terrible and tragic weather conditions elsewhere in the country we have had a lovely dry and bright day here.

The sunlight intensified the colours and made wonderful shadows, the tree seems to glow as the shadows fall around it.

 

 

Aren't these just too sweet, a lovely surprise from Suzie for The Baby Brother, such a wonderful colour and so intricate. Isn't she clever? And don't they make wonderful shadows on the wall.

Happy to notice and hang on to evidence of sun as we head towards winter.

Hope your weekend is full of small pleasures too. 
  

Weekend

Lots of little things got done and one very big one - plenty ticked off the to do list! Tackling clutter hotspots, you know those piles of things that sit there so long that you don't even see them any more, has freshed up quite a few areas of the house. Still more to do with Christmas approaching I still want to clear out some cupboards in preparation.

I planted some strawberries on the allotment in one of the raised beds that Mr FK built for me. A lovely peaceful hour in the sun, solitary work and so enjoyable. They looked a bit small and weedy once they were in and I could almost here the slugs dashing for a hearty meal.

The list of Christmas present I'd like to make has been drawn up and several designs are underway. I feel really excited about Christmas this year and suddenly we are in the middle of Novemeber so it's the perfect time to start planning.

  

Some satisfying knitting has been done, sweet little hats and some socks for me.

And a wonderful surprise from Mr FK

an MP3 for me, just need to learn how to use it!

My Little Helper and I made an autumn crown like the one we saw at Elsie Marley

 

We watched Dr Who, how scary was that episode?! I nearly had to watch from behind a cushion! The glazed eyed, water gushing people were so menacing.

And the really big thing ....Mr FK painted the hall, stairs, landing, stairs and landing! I helped by keeping the children out of the way and choosing the paint - what a team! Pictures to follow once it's all put back together.

Autumn events

We managed to squeeze in some fireworks in the garden between the rain showers. It reminds me of being a child, the smell of the fireworks, damp leaves under foot, writing my name with a sparkler and oohhing at the rainbow shower of colours. Hopefully my children will carry memories forward of this November ritual. No bonfire as we haven't really got the space and I was disorganised this year so no parkin or toffee apples either!

 
image from here

Sunday was Church Parade for Remembrance Day with all the Beavers and Brownies scrubbed up for the day. The Big Sister was with the Guides at our local church and I went with My Little Helper to a  lovely service at a church I've not been to in about 30 years, since I was a Brownie myself. The vicar spoke about courage and the nature of war, appreciating those fighting even if you have doubts about the actual war. All the children were given a red helium filled balloon with a tag attached detailing and commemorating a soldier who has died recently. The Baby Brother and I had Ian Malone who was only 28 when he was killed. I thought of his Mother and squeezed the my little man tightly in my arms, watching his older brother with his fellow Beavers releasing their balloons. So many balloons. 

Shilly shallying

So I've started selling Phoenix Cards and my first event is coffee and cake for some friends at my house. Humm better have a big tidy up and maybe even break out the hoover......

  

or I could recover my kitchen chairs in some snazzy spotty fabric.

And the bathroom is looking a bit messy with the children's bath toys lying around. I need a slugis I think to fit on the little shelf at the end of the bath. Yes, that's much better.

Ok what else? Dusting? No I'll make some nice labels so everyone knows what sort of cards are in each basket.

Good job The Big Sister is rustling up some apple cake or I'd have another reason to put off tidying up.

Have a lovely weekend, doing the little things that please you.

   

3rd time lucky!

We've finally had a sunny week away in the caravan. As Mrs Moog commented Croyde and Woolacombe are lovely, especially on a bright and sunny autumn day. It was a windy week but mild and warm so we could explore the beaches and get out and about. We spent more time on the beach than we did on our summer hols! My Little Helper thought all the surfers were super cool and used his savings to buy a skimboard ready for use on a beach with slighty less surf - he's not a great swimmer yet.

  I love to sit and watch the world go by, enjoying a picnic and watching the children play. The Baby Brother wriggled his toes in the sand and busied himself growing his second tooth, slow down little man! He's 6 months old already and in another 10 minutes he'll be a year old!

 

So many pretty villages with chocolate box cottages but it must be heaving in the summer.

We went to Lynton and rode the Cliff railway which is a splendid bit of Victorian engineering affording super views and saving you from a heart attack as you climb back up.

 

We had a day out at The Big Sheep watching sheep shearing, learning about different breeds and enjoying a sheepdog demonstration. They also have a playbarn with huge slides, usually the sort of noisy place I avoid like the plague but the children loved it and spent ages racing down the deathslides. They persuaded me to have a go - once I was sitting perched on the edge looking over the vertical drop all I could think of was broken bones and how far away the nearest hospital might be! I gathered my courage and as my 6 and 10 year old children had done it without palpitations, launched myself off the edge......ssssssssshhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!! just about sums it up!

We spent a day mooching round Illfracombe, which figured large in a story my Grandma used to tell about visiting my Popsie there during the war and the guns being fired from the cliffs making the wardrobe jump about in her room at the guest house.

 A traditional family holiday, beach, paddling, fish and chips, ice cream, evening games of Junior Scrabble, reading and relaxing. Wonderful!