A Little Make....

Normally I'm a creator in fabric & wool
this & last year however has been a little
different creatively speaking....

wood, paint & tiles have primarily been my creative outlet,
more out of necessity then choice if I'm honest.
The excitement of having finally made something in tweed
& denim this year, I guess is my justification of this
rather photo heavy post for a little cushion cover.

Most of my ideas swirl around forever in my head

before I get round to making them but then again there

are a few that just can't wait. 

Looking over at the wing-chair the other day

it just called out to me for a new cushion cover

that has a more Autumn feel about it.

With plenty of tweed scraps & denim in my stash

the fabric choice was easy.

As this cushion is right next to the hexagon blanket

it is important that the two work well together.

 I have always been someone that enjoys the design journey

(playing around with ideas & fabric)

 almost more then the making of it,

by the time I actually make (sew or crochet)

my project I have already mentally moved on to the next one. 

  

I LoVe deliberating over my design concepts

with a hot cuppa & sweet treat they are always

very helpful in finalizing my decision.

 

Once I have made a final decision on the layout, it's all go.

I don't like zips in cushion covers therefore I always make
mine without instead opting for a very generous overlap opening.

 However this piece of tweed unfortunately was barley

enoughe to cover the back cushion making the overlap

a little smaller then I like so I may add a pretty

button at a later stage.   

I chose to make mitered corners.
They are a little more fiddly especially with fabric
that is naturally quite bulky & stretchy like denim.

But I feel it's well worth the extra "straggle"

for a beautiful finish.

     

As Autumn winds are swishing outside

& rain hits the window

I looked over at my wing-chair this afternoon....

feeling HaPpY....
VERY HAPPY....

I'm in LoVe....

Oh sOoOo in LOVE!

Wishing you all a beautiful week!

XOXO

Autumn Backyard Rejig....

I bought a few Autumn flowers & spring bulbs the other day,

so today was a day for rearranging, sorting

& planting in my back yard.

This space has changed so much over this past summer,

that I'm still having to regularly pinch myself to believe what

Mr Mc & I have achieved here.

We are by no means finished but with the daylight getting

much shorter and weather worsening we have to call it a day

at least for now on our remodeling plans.

In the mean time I'm enjoying what we have already created here.

 

I'm in LoVe.... 

besotted LoVe.... 

from here to the Moon & back again LoVe!

This beautiful old whisky barrel is a wonderful gift from my Dad,

it looks perfect in this space

& serves the practical function of collecting the rainwater.   

Our back yard is fast becoming a wonderful mix of new & old!

Chipped & cracked crockery from our house

finds a new home in the garden.

With a little Anna treatment....

 a few coats of HaPpY blue paint

& a personalized logo,

this little new pot ladder from a discount supermarket

has been a great addition to our ongoing backyard project.

Allowing throughout the building work of new fences & sheds

for a small but pretty & colourful flower display

which could easily be moved around when needed.  

As the time spent out here for now is becoming less & less

I really cherish every minute I have in this
already very pretty little yard.

 I really feel so blessed to have an outside space

that I can call my own! 

Memories in a Jar....

Not having to rush off to work and with the house

in utter silence this morning,

I took time to really enjoy my breakfast.

 A perfect Autumn breakfast.

Flickering candle, steaming fluffy latte

and the taste of summer on my bagel!

 

In August when my Dad came to visit for a few weeks we took

a little trip to a self-pick fruit farm to get a few strawberries

for a tart I was planing on making for dessert that evening....

 

a couple hours of.... one in my tummy two in the basket, 

or possibly the other way round.... who is counting !?!

we ended up returning home with mountains of yummy fruit.

Easily done, when you're having fun!

 

 

That evening I made not one, not two but three tarts.

Once finished the fruit mountain had barely been touched

so Mr Mc dug out our preserve jars and I got busy making Rote Grütze.

For those of you not so familiar with it, 

Rote Grütze (Rødgrød) is a red fruit pudding very popular in Germany & Denmark

during the summer months, mostly eaten with a vanilla sauce or ice-cream.

Mr Mc, myself & Teen Paperdoll are no huge fans of it

but Baby Paperdoll & my Dad absolutely LoVe it! 

Two 1kg jars filled to the brim later (sorry for the lack of photos

the jars got emptied just as fast as I had filled them)

we still had masses of fruit left over.

The only solution....

JAM!

Making jam.... lots & lots of jam!

Strawberry & raspberry jam mix with a hint of vanilla.

The taste of the very best of summer in a jar.

 

 For me each jar is also filled with the

 much cherished memories of that beautiful day,

making it the perfect start to my day all year round!

A Month Well Lived....

I'm a little sad to say goodbye to this April,
 it has been a lovely month.
I have enjoyed just going with the flow taking each
moment as it comes.

Among all the grey, wet & cold we have

had a few sunny moments, mostly very early mornings & late afternoons.

I have been eating my breakfast standing in my kitchen a few mornings

this month trying to catch a glimpse of that sun and playing around with ideas

for a new kitchen that hopefully will include a little dining area, fingers crossed.

I also rediscovered my liking of bagels this month.

Every member of the family enjoyed the warming sun when it was about.

Guinness has always been a bit of a sun worshiper!  

Hard to believe this little fella will celebrate his
twelfth Birthday at the end of May!

Talking of Birthdays.... I celebrated mine earlier on this
month with this super yummy homemade burger by Mr Mc.
No cake for me this year  ....entirely my choice.
For Lent this year I had chosen to give up sweet sugary treats
and my Birthday happened to land before Easter ....c'est la vie.
But even without a cake I still had a beautiful day with

my family, pretty decorations and lovely presents.

I created a small herb garden in the back yard.
There still is so much to do in my wannabe garden but little things like
this make my heart jump with happy excitement for the things to come.

 I have noticed I seem to have a thing for wearing
sparkly shoes to the beach.

 

Well....truth be told I LoVe wearing sparkly shoes full stop!!!

And this month I have went a little shoe crazy

buying an unbelievable six pairs in one go.

In my defense though that is the first time ever I have bought so many all

at once, they were cheap, much to pretty only to choose just one from
and I was in really REALLY desperate need for Spring / Summer shoes. 

Been there, done that & got the t-shirt to prove it.

My first concert in many many years.
Amy MacDonald at the Ironworks in Inverness, it's a nice

small venue giving the concert a very intimate feel.  

The tickets were my Christmas pressie from teen Paperdoll.

Mr Mc & I had a great time and Amy sounds fab live.

With my Auntie visiting for a week we did what we always do
when we have visitors, exploring Scotland.
Urquhart Castle & Loch Ness was one of the destinations,
Mr Mc & I were last here over twenty years ago and couldn't quite believe
how much this place had changed.  It has become a real tourist trap
unbelievably commercialised, nine pound to get into the grounds
of Urquhart Castle for an adult only to be first channeled through
the gift shop ....extremely unpleasant.
The film that was show lacked in substance, jumping wildly within centuries.
Only our funny guide Donald saved the day.

I know I won't be rushing back any time soon with visiting family or friends. 

Thankfully for now
 the view over the stunning Highlands is still free.

 

My new "BFF" going by the name of chalk & I have been fairly busy,
so much so I decided it is cheaper to invest in a box
of a 144 chalk sticks.

Looking through my photos.... I realised I lived a fair bit in
creativity this month really enjoying that special time.

and a wonderful side affect of reconnecting with my blog has been
that I have made a much more conscious effort to capture
these moments the way I like to remember them.

 

There have also been plenty of mundane moments around this month,

seldom do they look as pretty as today´s sorting of the washing.
But mundane can have a simple beauty. 

I LoVe my washing drying outside on the line, it gets that
lovely natural fresh smell that you can't buy in a bottle! 

Moments.... big & small, good & bad, happy & sad
really are all part of the journey and this month
it has been a beautiful journey


xxxx

Reconnecting....

Finally ....today is the first day of my Easter holidays!

Oh I am soOoOo needing them.
  My brain has been all over the place and I'm still struggling to comprehend
that April is already one week old. These past few months have
absolutely flew by, leaving me little time for anything.

In an attempt to collect more of my "blink & you miss it" moments
I started on Instagram late last summer, ....a photo with a couple of words....
perfect I thought, after all I'm no natural writer and writing blog posts
can at times be a real challenge for me.
(Going through a very stifling school system that was all about knocking down,
 rather then building up has definitely left it's mark on me when it comes to writing) 
It was lovely how on Instagram I found old friends and rediscovering bloggers
whose blogs I very much enjoyed previously but who had since given up on blogger-land.
There is a nice feeling of instant connection about it all, a sharing
in the publishers moment, instantaneously, something I like.

 But somehow lately I have felt a little disconnected at the same time.

When I read blogs it is all about taking time usually with a cup of latte or tea by

my side to enjoy the photos & words of the author and
I try to comment to let the person know I enjoy visiting them.

Reading a good blog is like reading a book with lots of great short stories. 

Scrolling down the long photo-roll on Instagram I find myself doing
more & more in the passing whilst my head is really focused on other stuff.
So I have been wondering if this really is the best way for me to collect
my memories? I have actually photographed a lot less over the past
few months especially my every day moments, my camera has become
somewhat of a stranger to me and the memories attached to the few photos
I have taken mostly with my phone often becomes a faded blur almost
as soon as I press share.....funny really, not at all what I was aiming for.

Instagram just doesn't work for me the way I want it to!
I have realized that I need to give myself more time for the things I love.

Photography & Blogging
Maybe blogging isn't so history after all, at least not for me.

There are moments
some big.... some small.... many mundane....

which are magical to me I don't want to break them into what feels
like rushed snippets I need to document them for me
with the love they deserve.

This stop off at the beach on our way home from a day trip visiting
family & friends, really helped put all this back
into perspective for me.

The weather was so glorious.
No March feeling, more a beautiful June afternoon,
the late sun warming a gentle coastal breeze....

waves softly rolling onto the beach

a wonderful taste of salty air and
Paperdolls all excited at the sight of the sea & beach!

Sand melting under my feet....
I have to confess the sand was still a little cold
but I couldn't have cared less!

....OH I
 LoVe 

 being by the sea!  

I always have!
 It's magical, almost to big for words
I feel nothing but giggly excited happiness when I am there.

I felt so blessed to have had my camera with me
 

....to capture the beauty of it all!

A place like this is amazingly good for the soul!

I closed my eyes for a few seconds enjoying a warming swish across
my face from the golden glow of a slowly setting sun, inhaling
a hug gulp of yummy salty air sinking my feet deep into the sand

.....this is exactly what I wanted
to preserve for eternity!
So I can still feel that feeling I had when I was in this moment
....days ....weeks ....months even years later!

Something I can't do in rushed snippets.

 So I'm not saying goodbye to Instagram but rather a Hello again to my blog &

reconnecting with this lovely space for I have realized it's importance to me!

The beach was the perfect place to hear myself and reconnect with what

is important to me, nowhere & nothing could have been better for that!

....I really needed this....

 Life is all about moments ....the good ....the bad ....the ugly

I need to make time to cherish my GOOD moments,
enjoying & documenting them is time well spent for me.

XXXX

A Basket Case....

This past week and a half has whizzed by,

my head is spinning and I'm feeling a little drained.

Work.... work.... more work!

Do you ever get that feeling ....you run around all day

trying to be everything to everyone but by the evening

you just slump into a chair feeling like an epic failure at it all? 

That is me at the moment!

For days I have been meaning to share 

with you these photos, from a little pretty project,

 I finished at the beginning of September, only to get sidetracked 

every time with more "important" stuff.

Tonight I'm finally trying to taking back SOME control

over my time again, starting with this post.... 

♡♡ I LoVe baskets ♡♡

Big baskets.... small baskets.... tall baskets.... short baskets...  

round, oval, square baskets....

I like them all!

 Pretty & practical at the same time,

there is always room & use for another basket in my house.

And when this vintage one caught my eye recently in the 

window of a charity shop, at just £1.99 a steal for it's

perfect condition, it just had to come home with me. 

 Natural wicker is very beautiful but I have to confess

I LoVe a bit of colour on my wicker.
A few years back I started playing around with paint
on old wicker baskets & I have continue ever since.

The combination of light blue, white and
natural wicker is a firm favorite of mine!
 It works for me every time.
Surely I'm not the only one that loves this colour combination?

This case has so many beautiful little details,

I tried to highlight each & every one.

Little things make me so happy.

If you have been following me on here for a while

you know we are a family of old fashioned boardgame lovers.

Yahtzee, Draughts, Memory, Monopoly the list goes on & on,

but without a games box they have been scattered

all around the house and I much rather them all in one place.
Enter this basket....

It has become the perfect new home for some
of our games collection.
A vintage case for oldie games.
I told you there was always room & use
for one more basket in my house

I'm so pleasantly surprised by how many
of our games I have managed to fit nice & neatly into it.

I liked this case when I first saw it.... now I LoVe it!
A little paint mixed with some imaginary vision has created
a practically perfect case, filled to the brim with hours of vintage fun.

Looking at this beautiful case lying under my sideboard I'm reminded that

whilst sometimes how my time is spend is beyond my control
....that is life as a mum, wife & employee....
it is important for me & my happiness
to retake control whenever & wherever I can!

xoxo

Ahhhhhhh....
feeling much better already!