Little treasures...

flickr image, 'mine' by fancypicnic; enhanced via picnik

Such treasures.
I love this time of year, when I can feel the summer holidays are just around the corner...the clue? Eldest joyously seeking out these little beauties from my mother's garden. Joy indeed.

My garden (unlike my mother's) is desperately in need of some TLC to prevent the weeds from choking everything in sight - guess what I'm up to for a few days?! At least there's a silver lining...the ideal opportunity to go mad with the macro function!

Have a lovely day, weeding or otherwise x

Bad Hair Day

It's well and truly over now, isn't it? The summer - been and gone, duly replaced by strong winds (yuck) and heavy rain (plays havoc with your hair). Have a picture of my girls' house, with their birdhouse, looking rather sunny and dreamy.
I read on florcita's blog about how Argentinians stay inside with tea and special biscuits when it rains. How great is that? Best idea I've heard for ages!!

I think you can detect that things haven't really moved on since yesterday....I started and discarded three new projects, and spent the afternoon 'researching', ie: devouring historical costume books! My idea of heaven...with the excuse, of course, that I have all of that silk and velvet to play with!

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Thank you for everyone's kind words yesterday xx
I hope my oldest friend, the Prawn, had a great birthday yesterday - even if my card didn't arrive until today (sorry) xx
I hope my dear friend, 'back where I used to live', gets through tomorrow's op with a smile on her face (albeit strained!) after a nasty accident yesterday...xx

A Quick Catch Up For You...

This is what I've been up to whilst I've been away...not very much sewing going on, is there? Actually, that was really the point. I had the last two weeks of the girls' summer holidays off, so that we could spend time together properly. It was lovely!

We didn't 'do' a huge amount, really. We had some rather slow mornings...which often crept into the afternoon ...that almost turned into complete 'pyjama days'!! No harm in that, is there? It's just what holidays are about in my book.

We saw some old friends, we read a lot, we drew a lot, we sat round watching a few films with the biscuit barrel nearby (naughty!), and we felt sorry for the woodcutter. Yes, that's him in the pic, third row down on the left. Carpal tunnel surgery. Not uncommon, I know, but as florcita commented (on flickr), ouch...ouchouchouch! The picture of the spider's web is there because the first of September dawned, and despite the gentle glow of sunshine (for an hour or so, anyway) at 8.30 a.m, there was certainly the feel of autumn creeping up on us. Crisply clear, heavy with dew and a weeny nip in the air.

Those gorgeous flowers were sent to me by a fabulous friend...who doesn't love the feeling of opening the front door to receive a bouquet...especially when it is a complete surprise!!? Afternoon tea in the Pump Rooms, Bath (glorious!) was enjoyed by all of us - both girls have since been heard playing 'teatime at the Pump Rooms' (eldest always has to be Daddy), so I think they enjoyed the experience!!

So what of the wooden sculpture? That's a huge boar, which was built in the grounds of Taurus Crafts, Lydney...and then burned, in a pagan-esque ceremony at dusk. Youngest made a lantern, of which she was very pleased, and we joined the throngs on the sidelines, lantern alight, to watch it burn. Something quite intoxicating about a jolly good bonfire, isn't there?

Finally, we're rather proud of our decorative logs - for sale on ebay - and this is a pic taken for use on our upcoming (though not yet live) website, The Log Basket. Exciting!!

Hope you all had a good summer, despite the awful weather. Just think, Christmas is just around the corner!!!

All Their Own Work

homemade snap, originally uploaded by fancypicnic.

I just wanted to show you this.
I can remember, when I was a child, often complaining during the long summer holidays that I was 'bored'...sounds familiar? When you were a child, whenever you were 'bored' at home, just moping about the house, were you or were you not told about what life used to be like...'back in the old days'?? How they (parents) used to have to make their own entertainment? Well, my two did just that!
They happened to learn how to draw an otter (I do believe you may be thinking to yourselves 'what fine cats those little girls have drawn!' Yes. I made that same mistake myself...you have been warned!) recently, and so they sat all morning drawing and colouring lots of matching pairs of otters, and stuck them onto card to make their own set of snap cards!

The rest of the day was spent playing endless rounds of the memory game and snap, over and over again. All afternoon..on and on...and on. We joined in a few times, but frankly they seemed happier on their own...why can't all days be like this?

A Quickie for Friday

The school summer holidays are now underway, so here's a little something summery in readiness for those warm, long days ahead.

The cotton based Midsummer Pendant is small and light, with delicate muted colours and a sprinkling of beads for added interest and texture. I'm listing it in my Dawanda shop tonight.