Monday 30 September 2013

My "me" Coffee....

I normally have two coffees on a school-day morning, 
the first I only sip on, in between emptying the dishwasher trying to organize everyone 
having breakfast and leaving the house on time with all they need
....school bags....gym kit....lunch boxes....keys etc....
But after giving my last goodbye kiss for the morning,
 I take a deep breath enjoy the calm that has returned to the house and have my second coffee.
  I call this one a “me” coffee.
“Me” because it is all about the things I really enjoy doing whilst drinking coffee on my own
....like reading the latest posts on my favorite blogs, feeding my Pinterest addiction
and jotting down ideas for “must make” projects.
Most of my “must make” ideas are swirling in my head for quite a while before I put them on paper.  No different with this little one, I have been wanting to make a hot water bottle cover 
since last winter, but somehow couldn’t decide if I like to crochet or sew one
 ....Can’t decide....
means the idea stayed in my head buried under lots of other “must make” ideas 
that are all suffering a similar fate indecision by me.
It was only when I needed the hot water bottle last week that I thought about the cover again.  
Not sure if it was the wind outside and the blue sky with the fluffy clouds or 
baby Paperdoll’s request to go kite flying but somewhere in all that 
I had the light bulb moment.


So on my next “me” coffee I started sketching the idea down.  
 Funny thing is....when I know that a design is right then I know its right 
and it is easy for me to work from that. 
I hope this makes sense?

 At first I thought of using a grey linen fabric as the base but as I opened my fabric cupboard 
my sight fell onto this lovely cloud fabric I had bought in Denmark recently.
I had bought it just like so many of my other fabrics with no specific project in mind.  


And like so many of my projects it evolves and changes slightly as I work on it.  
Quilting a couple of the clouds has given the cover a very lovely snuggle feel.  
And I am so pleased with how the kite has worked out.  
I LOVE...LOVE...LOVE... kites!!! 
I could waffle on forever about my great childhood memories 
trying to fly kites on windy autumn days....


This kite reminds me of the ones I made as a child from paper with lots of ribbons!


Let the cold days come we'll be toasty & snug!!!
Have a beautiful autumn week!

Sunday 22 September 2013

A splash of colour....

Today was a other rather grey day here 
(definitely no sign so far of the Indian summer I had been hoping for) 
and desperately needing a splash of colour
I was looking through our summer holidays photos from this year and there it was that excitingly....lovely....colourful.... August day in my parents garden.
My parents live in leafy suburbia in Berlin not a place you naturally think of,
when thinking of wild peacocks. 
But Berlin is always good for a surprise and it didn’t disappoint this time either!
“Mum & Dad we have guests.... there are Peacocks in the garden” teen Paperdoll shouts and to be honest at first I didn't even get the full meaning of what she was saying, 
Peacocks in my parents garden impossible.


    But there they were a pair of young male Peacocks gracefully walk on the path through
    the flowerbeds and one even took a look inside the living room through the open patio door. 


Where they came from, where they live or if someone owns them, nobody really seems to know.
They just appeared earlier this summer, and they have become such a regular fixture in the neighborhood that the locals don't even get excited any more. 


 “Oh them they have dropped by regularly over the past few months”
 my dad said rather laissez-faire.
Their favored spot in the garden, my mum tells me later is the roof of the shed
understandable really after all it gives them the best views over the garden.


Mr Mc, myself and the Paperdolls are clearly not locals and we where excited 
or more to the point mesmerized by this stunning pair. 


And who can blame us when the unexpected guests are a pair of beautiful Peacocks.
Looking at this photos has filled my need for colour for today and 
I hope this has brought a splash of colour to your day to!
Have a lovely week!