Holiday snaps

No not the sort that go in crackers but photos!

There are now less than 7 weeks until Christmas, but only just over 7 weeks ago I had only just returned from our summer holiday!

So as you snuggle up today on this chilly November day, I thought you might like to see a little corner of England, first up is Shropshire.

We rented a little cottage, this one to be exact, doesn't look too thrilling from the outside, but if you have the time follow the link and take a look at the photos....not sure they quite do the charm and quirkiness justice, but I think you'll get the idea!  What a peaceful haven.

We found we were the perfect sized family for it as we are all under 5 feet 8 inches tall!  Some of the walls are 2 feet thick! There were other lovely homes in the village and the county is known for its good food.


The village is the last place in England to celebrate Oak Apple Day, originally a public holiday celebrated in England on 29 May to commemorate the restoration of the English Monarchy in May 1660.  This village now celebrates it under a new name, Arbour Day and it is now celebrated on the last Sunday in May.  The Arbour Tree is decorated with flags and the villagers celebrate.  Our cottage is Arbour Cottage, named after the tree.

 

 

Such a pretty village........

 

...with little places to paddle.......

 ....and skim stones.......

 

We spent about an hour here skimming and paddling.

We also ventured farther afield, our first tourist-y visit was to Ludlow and it's beautiful town with buildings such as this one having parts which date back to the 16th century......

 Isn't it gorgeous?

Ludlow Castle, of course, is much older but equally has been developed over the centuries to replace shutters with windows and other 'mod cons'!

Tiddly Toes made a run for it when we arrived and I caught up with her (attached to another family!) right up here on the highest ramparts!

But look at the view.....

 

That round building (centre right) is the castle Chapel and the heart of all castle life.

Here's a shot through the more modern Elizabethan windows to the older part of the castle.....

 

And these are the rooms, now homes and the castle entrance and shop, built into the castle wall.....

 

We did a good bit of climbing and discovering, we touched very old doors, admired the views from the original windows and climbed spiral staircases like this one.....

 

The crack extended through the whole turret and you wonder how much longer it will hang in there!

Look at the spiral staircase from below looking up....isn't it beautiful?

 

This is the view from the kitchen window out to the castle garden (within the main castle wall), can you see a stoned edged square to the right of that sign?  That's a dungeon......

 

This amazing bit of stone-masonry  and architecture is the kitchen ceiling.......

 

A really stunning castle and a beautiful town.

Next up was a countryside visit as we took a day out to Acton Scott Working Farm (used for the TV series Victorian Farm).

You are greeted by this handsome chap.......

 There are alot of traditional crafts practised here such as hurdle-making, charcoal burning and brick casting..........
 

 

This is now a traditional tea room, but it used to be the local school.....

 

I couldn't get too many photographs as it was a bit of a wet day....spot the raindrop on the lens?

Another must visit venue is Stokesay Castle, look......

 

This is the more 'modern' entrance, but isn't it stunning?

You can't see from the photos, but the wooden pegs used to hold the frame together were never cut flush so you can see how this was erected......

 

And this is the modern (16th Century!) bedroom extension to the 12th Century castle ......

 

The village also has a gorgeous church.......

 

 

I couldn't take any photos inside but there are original paintings and decorations on the wall so you can take a guess how old those are!

So after a week of playing the tourist and relaxing in our beautiful cottage it was time to pack up and move south, through Wales to Dorset..........

Next time I'll introduce you to Dorset.

Until then, take care,

Love
Nora
xxxx

Another round up, this time July!!!

I've already shared this post about my lovely friend visiting for a bit of TLC, gossip and making, but there were other nice things in this month too.

Tiddly Toes had to make a garden for school, so after considering making it in a shoebox or jam jar, we decided to opt for an update on the garden on a plate and go for a pasta serving bowl!

She painted a ceramic birdhouse in her two most favourite colours, we used a scrap of red and white spotty fabric to transform a light pull into a toadstool, we used a flower pot dish and a small mirror from a 'make your own hand mirror kit' she received for her birthday, a bit of dowel for line posts, silver thread for line and some mini pegs I found in my old paper crafting box.  We invested in 2 odd looking succulents, a grass and some gravel and set to work.

This is what we came up with...........

 

Crafty Friend bought her the little sign with her name on it to "Welcome All Friends!" to her garden.

  

I just love that toadstool and the 'pond'.

 

And just look at that dinky little clothes line for fairy friends!

 

Adorable!

I also had a trip to a local village for a new hair-do, whilst there I discovered the most wonderful charity shop, you'll have to excuse the screwed up look of the items, they were out of the bag and on the line (with the other washing) because I was so excited!

I found this lovely French Connection belted tunic...........

Just love that design and the colours.

I also found a lovely cotton cardigan which apart from being an incredibly lovely colour and fit may also become the backdrop for a pair of crocheted collars! 

Then partly for colour, partly for elastic(!) I fell in love with this gorgeous dress......

 

And last but not least was this small beaded handbag by East................. 

I love the colours, details, beads, design....what's not to like about that!

 

I also went browsing in another local charity shop that I know has odd bits and bobs and came up with this little gem in the bottom of a rummage basket...........

 

 

Isn't that just adorable?  Like most crafty things I buy, I have no plans for this, but I just know it will come in handy for something!

Sadly in July Mum-in-Law fell quite ill and Dad-in-Law just wasn't coping, so wonderful Hubs ran a mercy mission to them and ended up staying a week!  Whilst he was away it was mayhem here what with the end of term, the start of holiday club, the end of term BBQ, a very nasty allegation reared it's head (which I won't bore you with as people with sick minds don't deserve air space!) and functioning as a lone-parent, PLUS...it was our Wedding Anniversary!

My lovely Hubs sent me these beautiful flowers from my favourite florists called Stems.

 

So as a treat for my Hubs, I decorated the kitchen as a surprise for him,  what do you think?

 

That see-head wallpaper is on the opposite wall too.  It goes so well with our gloss white kitchen.

He was very pleased.

I have yet to make the blinds, I have the fabric, but I'm a bit caught up with Christmas making, which I can't show you just yet in case it gives the game away to an unsuspecting friend!!

I will be back soon, not sure what with, but I will be back (call me Arnie!!)

'Til then, toodle-pip,

Nora

xxxx

Another Blog Takeover by Little Lady!

But how could I resist telling you about her!

After the monster scooter bag, she was still raring to go, so not having another project up my sleeve I decided to teach her (huh-herm.....said loosely as I had never done it either!!!) to Quilt-As-You-Go!

We took our inspiration from Little Island Quilting and the Soy Amado Project, if you don't know anything about it, PLEASE hop over and take a look, quilt 51  has just been finished!

We started with a square of quilt batting and a pile of odd strips of fabric chosen by Little Lady from my stash.....

 

we laid two together and away she went following the foot down the edge of the fabric strips...Mummy was at the ready with the iron.....

 

And that was it! I ironed them flat, she chose the next one and laid it on the top, pinned and whizzed!

 

Done in no time at all!

 

Here she is with her finished square.  She had a rest before she quilted it during which time I discovered a little hole which I repaired.

 

She then went on to quilt it using this on the back....

 

Here she is buzzing up and down the lines....

 

 

(Proud Mummy Moment!)

And here she is with the beautifully quilted front........

 

....and back!

 

We are hoping to send it to the Soy Amado Project....have you made one yet?

Don't know what I'll be back with next time as I am aware that Little Lady has made another project from the sewing book, I promised you a garden update, we have a holiday to remember and...er......well.... some (cough) ......purchases!  Ooops!

See you soon!

Toodle-pip!

Nora

xxxx

Little Lady and the Sewing Machine Adventure.....

Nope, not the latest Ladybird book, but our real life adventure with another book.

Hoping Louise at Sew Scrumptious might read this as her daughter has just received a gorgeous new purple sewing machine for her birthday...Happy Birthday Isabella!

Here is the book.....

 

....and here is the very first project chosen by Little Lady.....

 

...a Monster Scooter Bag!

 

I traced the bits onto freezer paper so that we had them for future reference (I pop pattern pieces in an envelope taped to the inside back cover of books).  She helped me cut some with scissors and supervised me rotary cutting others!

 

Here she is pinning her stripes......

...and here she is sewing them!

  

Yep, that's all her with no interference from Mummy!

 

Here's the eyes sewn on to the bag flap...how cute is all that skew-wiff sewing!?

 

And here he is pinned ready for the all-round-the-edge-sewing bit.

 

And there is one VERY happy 5 year old with her Monster Scooter Bag! Great job Little Lady!  What a great book too, nice pattern templates, easy instructions...nuf said!

Back soon with more Little Lady Sewing....she'll be needing her own blog soon!

Ta-ta for now,

Nora

xxxx

Hanging my head in shame...

And I have noticed that to be the theme on a few blogs lately......absence!

I really went for it back in May and June, hoping to catch up with myself and getting your encouragement and chatter along the way but, my fault entirely, good intentions fell by the wayside!  Again!

I have been busy, promise, that's the problem!  So busy I can't spare the time to pop in!

I've only managed this today as I've been in bed ill for the last 3 days and sitting typing is about all my body can cope with.  You know that stage don't you?  Your mind is bored but your body won't co-operate to DO anything!

So I thought I would catch you up with May, not the whole lot but just one lovely day which really lifted my spirits.

It started with a wonderful grocery delivery from Abel & Cole, just look at this.....

All wonderfully organic and tasty and delivered to my door weekly, each week is different and I sometimes look up to see what's coming so that I can plan and other times just wait for the surprise.

I then started baking and preparing for the arrival of a friend who wanted some help with a project or 2 and kindly thought I'd be the lady for the job, so I thought I would make things a bit special for her as she is a complete sweetie.

This is what she was greeted with when she arrived.....

 

 

...plus a pot of tea! To go with our VERY low fat cakes....I jest not!  They really are low fat, about 4g each to be exact...not bad eh?!

 

And my Grandmothers trio's; that's a cup, saucer and tea plate.

 

 Little candles for a comfy glow, some inspirational books,

 scrummy yarn, recognise it from here?

Yes, LOW FAT cake...AND low fat scones....about 3 grams of fat per scone and I serve them with half fat creme fraiche too!

 I'd really like to show you some achievements from our afternoon, but apart from the chatter, the only things we made were crumbs!

Back soon with a sewing afternoon that I'm not sure I've shown you yet.

Take very good care of yourself and I really hope I don't get waylaid for 3 months!

Byeeeee!
Nora
xxxx