Sunday Sevens is here again and guess what – I’ve kept it to seven photos for the first time in forever! Not that we haven’t done loads, just that I keep forgetting to take photos. No pub pics either this week; we had a lovely walk to the pub yesterday in the sunshine, but I forgot to take the mobile with me.
If you want to find out more and how you can join in, visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins.
1. This gorgeous, faded roses fabric was on sale at £5 per metre, down from £16. It is 2.5m wide, too, so I bought all of it – 3m for £15! It’s curtain weight fabric and is destined for the redecoration of the smallest bedroom, which hasn’t been decorated in ten years and needs a facelift.
2. As part of our ‘get the house ready for sale’ effort, we had a clear out of the wall-to-wall bookshelves in our lounge. I offered this lot to the school for their Christmas fair as it’s all in good condition, but they don’t seem to want it as no one has got back to me. Oh well – charity shop it is then.
3. I forgot to show you this book that I couldn’t resist buying last week. It’s just lovely – and there’s more space on the bookshelves now, so there was no reason not to buy it:)
4. Can you believe this? Spotted in a pub in Sherborne on 5th SEPTEMBER!
5. Hmm, not very picturesque perhaps, but an important part of our week. We had a heavy downpour and rain was pouring through the light fitting in the not yet finished sun room. A quick inspection of the single storey roof revealed two broken tiles. Easily fixed before any damage was done, thank goodness.
6. Progress so far on the quilt-as-you-go squares. Each square will be quilted the same, but the design doesn’t show up as clearly on the patterned fabrics as it does on this spotty one.
7. A sweet pic of the dogs to finish with. Wow, they do need a haircut. Time to get the scissors out again….
This week’s Sunday Sevens is a couple of week’s worth as I haven’t had chance to get near a computer before now.
To find out more about Sunday Sevens, visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins.
1. The Boys were desperately in need of a haircut……
2. This was the ‘before’!
3. All No.3’s curls have gone! N0.3 wanted me to cut his hair ‘long’.
4. The Boys are eating the crackling, which I cut off the pork belly before cooking what is possibly the tastiest meal ever.
5. I managed to get around to making a friend’s curtains which she has been waiting for for ages.
6. No.1 Son also wanted a haircut before we all went camping. I did the ‘Mad Woman Let Loose With A Pair Of Scissors’ impression.
7. I whipped up some simple bunting for the tents using some scraps out of my ‘less than 4″ square scrap bag’. Come on, I know I’m not the only one who can’t bear to throw away even the tiniest piece of fabric.
8. Talking of camping, No.1 Son went a day earlier and took both the tents as there wouldn’t be enough room in my little car (Mr H-L’s big car was in the garage). At the last minute, the garage rang to say they’d fixed the Merc. Bonus!
9. Camping with all three sons and N0.1’s girlfriend.
10. Everyone needs a bit of bunting on their tents. And homemade picnic rug and crocheted blankets.
11. Standard camping breakfast – sausages!
12. Family selfie at Hurlstone Point overlooking Porlock Bay.
13. The Boys chose their own fabric for their sewing lesson projects.
14. Hanson’s fabric warehouse in Sturminster Newton was in the midst of putting up all manner of things outside their shop for Yarnbombing Day.
15. The nearby open spaces were also duly adorned with knitted and crocheted works of art. The Boys couldn’t resist touching everything.
16. I’m still working steadily on the knitted baby shawl. At this point I think I was two thirds of the way in with 60 hours under my belt and over 70,000 stitches to date.
17. The Boys went back to school, everyone went back to work and I went to the café all on my own for a bit of peace and quiet and well earned coffee and cake.
We’re down to one car at the moment – the Mercedes is in the garage and may be on it’s way to the scrapyard in the sky as it may not be economical to fix. Mr H-L has been using my car for work as I don’t need it in the holidays, but this means we don’t get out at all as there is very limited public transport.
What I’m trying to say, is that there are no pub photos in this week’s Sunday Sevens, and no Exmoor landscapes – just us at home, doing stuff.
Progress is slow but steady on the baby shawl I’m knitting. At this point I was one third of the way through and the statistics were; 35 hours, 560 rows and 40,324 stitches.
2. I held two full day workshops this week. Just look at the concentration on her face!
3. The students love choosing their own combination of fabrics to make their creations unique. It started with piles of neatly folded fabric but, within seconds of excited rummaging, descended into this chaotic heap!
4. I found time to design and make a school bag for No.2 Son. He declared that he was too old to use the standard school “babyish” book bags so chose the fabrics for a more grown up version.
I’ll write up a quick ‘how to’ when I get time.
5. Talking of school, we made a rare trip to town to buy new school shoes and The Boys spent the whole time going up and down the escalators. They’re not used to such exciting entertainment in the country!
6. WHY are school shoes so expensive? £100 for two pairs of shoes and a pair of daps – criminal.
7. While we were in Yeovil, we popped into the outdoor pursuits shop and managed to snap up another gas burner, gas cannisters and a new lamp, all at half price, ready for camping next week.
8. I treated myself to six tin plates, all copies of original royal china. Who said you can’t dine in style just because you’re camping?
9. Being at home all week meant more baking than usual was done. The Boys wore their self-made butcher’s aprons and had great fun making chocolate cornflake crunchies.
10. Licking the spoons is always the best bit, isn’t it?
11. Finally – HOW can sleeping like this be comfortable?!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series showing glimpses of your life outside of the blog. To find out how you can join in, too, visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins.
Having been SO busy these last few weeks, I couldn’t possibly fit in everything we’ve done, so here’s a heavily edited version of events, albeit in rather more than seven photos again.
Linking up with Natalie at Threads & Bobbins for Sunday Sevens – a weekly blog series showing what you do outside the blog. Click on the link to find out more.
1. I went to my first ever Baby Shower, an event that has reached the UK from foreign climes apparently, and is gaining popularity with youngsters rapidly. My crocheted pram blanket was well received by the mother-to-be.
2. We went to Exmoor to view some more b+bs on the hottest day of the year. A really good Summer day in England is 23 degrees centigrade, so we were sweltering in the heat.
3. Mr H-L didn’t need much persuasion to stop for a nice cold pint in The Beggar’s Roost in North Devon.
4. The following day, Mr H-L and I had a day out locally and went to three pubs in one day – a record for us!
8. A group of students were filming down by the river, so we stayed and watched for a while.
9. Arty snap of The Boys playing Top Trumps.
10. The new girls were just settling in nicely (can you tell?) when this one strayed too far and was killed by a passing car:(
11. No.2 Son declared that he needed some short sleeved T-shirts for our imminent holiday in Cornwall. I cut up a couple of Mr H-L’s old ones that were destined for recyling and combined the good bits to make him a new one. A bit Frankenstein perhaps, but he’s pleased with it.
12. A lovely few days were spent in Cornwall with family in their holiday cottage near Newquay. As luck would have it, the tickets we bought for the Eden Project last year were valid for twelve months, so we snuck in again on Day 364 for free!
13. We even sniffed out the bar in the tropical dome!
14. Days were spent on the beach…..
15. …..evenings were spent on the beach.
16. A romantic one of us watching the sun go down as The Boys frollicked in the surf.
19. Back home, family had arrived from France to stay for a few days and some friends popped in spontaneously, so I quickly rustled up an impromptu meal for thirteen!
20. Another day, another family visit, this time our granddaughter with her mum and dad. We took the kids for a walk and ended up in a playground where dogs aren’t allowed, so tied them up outside at the railings.
Just look at that sad puppy face!
21. Mum and daughter flat out later that afternoon. Must have been all that fresh air (and the ice cream!)
Well, that doesn’t cover half of it, but better to put a few photos up rather than miss another week, I thought.
I’ll try to find time to do a separate post covering all the sewing workshops for those of you who have been following the sewing school (www.thestitchacademy.com).
Hope you’re making the most of the Summer holidays, too!
Better late than never, here is this week’s Sunday Sevens!
1. Is Summer ever going to come to England? Eleven degrees centigrade and it felt chilly enough to light the fire. I haven’t abandoned the flip flops just yet though.
2. Working on prototypes for a commercial commission and my table looks like this. Why can’t I be a tidy sewer?
3. We walked to the pub in the rain – again.
4. This gorgeous yarn arrived from the USA.
5. It’s going to be a laceweight, circular baby shawl – if I can ever work it out. I’ve frogged it twice already.
6. A nightshirt and pyjamas were completed in classes this week.
7. Remember the shop window with the cardboard city from a couple of weeks ago? Cardboard bird boxes have replaced them, complete with Astro turf and garden birds helping themselves to the top of the milk.
9. I started making some crochet daisies. Just because.
10. No.3 Son won Manager’s Player of the Year for his outstanding goalkeeping this season.
11. No.3 Son posing for a photo at Hauser and Wirth Gallery in Bruton.
14. At the bar inside, I just HAD to try their homemade Dill Gin.
15. My daughter in her new car. It suits her, don’t you think?
If you fancy joining in Sunday Sevens, visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins where you can find out how to take part. As you can see, it doesn’t have to be on a Sunday or seven photos…..
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series whereby you share seven photos of your week outside the blog. Invented by Nat at Threads & Bobbins, follow the link to find out more.
1. A member of the family was hosting an Open Garden at her farm. Typically, it poured down all day but didn’t spoil anyone’s enjoyment – over £1200 was raised for a local hospice!
2. A farmyard twist on planting!
3. This old GWR sign has found a new home on the door to the outside toilet.
4. I was given a posy of flowers to take home which are still brightening my mantelpiece a week later.
5. Spurred on by fellow Instagrammers, I had a clear out of my wardrobe. I decided to donate a recent make (the keyhole top from Love Sewing) due to its immodest cleavage reveal!
6. A crochet blanket was started. Just a simple granny square one this time.
7. No.3 Son was part of a team that won the Gold medal at an inter schools championship mid-week.
8. The following day, they went on to win Silver in the area finals. District finals at Millfield School are next!
9. The owners of this field very kindly mowed a wide path through the middle of the field for dog walkers. It would appear that, instead of cattle grazing, they are encouraging a wildflower meadow to grow.
10. After a midnight emergency trip to the vet, Fifi had a tumour removed and is NOT happy that she has to wear the Cone Of Shame for ten days.
11. More crochet, this time a flat flower to embellish the centre of the aforementioned blanket.
12. After being quoted £5,200 to fit out the other end of our kitchen, I sought a cheaper alternative. This solid oak dresser cost just £96 on eBay and will be painted later in the week. Sacrilege, some might say, but there is more than enough wood in our kitchen, so Bleu Clair by Autentico has been ordered to add a splash of colour.
A quieter week than last, I had chance to catch my breath and relax a bit before family came for the weekend. They’ve just begun the journey home – right in the middle of the Glastonbury traffic, so it’s anyone’s guess as to how long it will take them!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series thought up by Nat at Threads & Bobbins – click on the link to find out more and how YOU can join in.
1. Back from Spain in the early hours of Wednesday morning (7th June – I’m still catching up), I had to get organised pretty instantly. The school fair was in four days time and I still had loads to do as, not only was I making things for the school, but was also having a stand for The Stitch Academy AND running a fashion show for my students.
I started by making samples for the Summer workshops which I would be advertising on my stand – Pyjamas and Sleep Mask, and an Owl Cushion/PJ Case.
2. Next, I made the Miette skirt by Tilly and the Buttons, also a future workshop or maybe weekly lessons. Raspberry coloured linen which hangs really well for this style.
3. The woman who loved my cross-body bags but wanted one in grey with a star on it had her wish granted! Luckily, she turned up at the fair wearing a grey T-shirt with a star on the front and snapped this bag up straight away.
4. The Elderflower cordial that had been brewing while we were on holiday was bottled and labelled. Here they are on the stall at the back on the far left. They all sold. Two one-litre bottles at £4 each and four 75cl bottles at £3 each, for anyone who is wondering how to price things at a school fair. It cost £2.74 for the sugar and lemons (the bottles were old lemonade ones) and sold for £20 – a nice little profit for their funds and SO easy to make.
The bunting I made for our wedding is hanging at the back of the tent:)
5. Mr. H-L actually made the marmalade this year as I was busy sewing. They’re the jars on the tray with the blue fabric ‘hats’. Ten small jars (half normal size) all sold for £1.50 each. They cost about £3 in total make and, again, the jars were recycled.
I also made forty scones on the morning of the fair so they were nice and fresh.
6. Oh, I almost forgot – after making the scones, I quickly traced off and made a Coco top as the fair wasn’t until one o’clock!!
7. My stand at the fair which was a huge success, enrolling more students and premiering my new adult classes to the villagers. A Tilly and the Buttons Margot Pyjamas workshop is almost booked up! (Thurs 14th July if anyone is interested).
8. A dozen of my students took part in a fashion show at the fair which they absolutely loved, showing off the things they had made over the past nine months since The Stitch Academy started.
9. No.3 Son stole the show with his antics!
10. He certainly made the most of his moment in the spotlight!
11. In other news….this cardboard city is a window display in a boarded up solicitor’s premises. Random, but brilliant.
13. N0.3 Son wanted to make the butter this time.
Here he is squeezing out all that lovely buttermilk which made some scones later in the day.
14. My Victorian butter paddles do their job nicely.
15. There, finished!
16. Perfect spread thickly on some Date and Walnut bread still warm from the oven!
17. ‘Chalky’, our Chalkhill Blue hen, laid her first blue egg!
18. The next day she laid her second, both of which were massive for such a small hen and this is the reason why – both were double yolkers!
19. Teaching pattern drafting to a student, this week, a basic trouser block.
20. I had almost finished a cardigan as a Christmas present from leftover yarn (thrifty, as ever) but ran out only to discover that it had been discontinued – oh s**t!
I ended up unravelling four inches of a scarf in order to scavenge enough yarn to complete the cardigan. Luckily, the scarf was a) for me and b) REALLY long in the first place so no harm was done.
21. I got out all the components of my July make for the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network – but never got around to starting it. Next week, maybe.
22. Three homemade cards amongst those sent from our six (between us) children to Mr H-L on Father’s Day.
23. A pair of Star Wars flip flops, bottle of malt whisky, a coffee cake, homemade brandy truffles and, from his girls in Brighton, a dozen rock oysters!
This week’s Sunday Sevens comes from Spain again, although we are actually back in Luke warm and soggy England once more now which means…….
1. ……no more cups of hot water and lemon on the roof terrace overlooking the pool and this mountain view.
2. Lemons freshly picked off a tree in the garden.
3. The entrance to the weekly market in Albox.
4. A relaxed way of displaying lengths of fabric for sale.
5. I bought a couple of linen shirts from this stall.
6. I couldn’t resist joining The Boys on their second hack through the mountains – no broken ribs this year, thankfully!
7. We took The Boys for a day out to Mini Hollywood, way out in the desert region of Southern Spain, where the spaghetti westerns were filmed.
8. Twice daily live mini westerns are put on for visitors and, although The Boys have been here before and watched it several times, they still loved it!
9. The actors were very friendly (despite the dead pan expressions put on for the photos!) and encouraged visitors to join them on the wagons or horses for a photo.
10. We all loved the Can Can dancers in the Saloon.
11. Mr H-L didn’t need to be asked twice to pose for a photo with one of the dancers after the show had finished.
12. After a few hours in the blistering heat, The Boys were desperate to get to the swimming pool which was also part of Mini Hollywood.
13. A good hour was spent on the water slides.
14. It was a bit weird to see all this water in such a dry region.
15. A welcome beer on the porch outside the Saloon Bar.
16. The Boys went riding again the next day, while Mr H-L and I explored Partaloa village.
17. Two very hungry boys were more than happy to go for tapas after riding.
18. This little lot didn’t last long!
19. Back ‘home’ for an afternoon relaxing and I managed to block all four panels of my lace cardigan. They dried in no time in the dappled shade.
20. The world famous Desert Springs was our destination the next day.
21. A leisurely family lunch was enjoyed in the welcome shade of the porch dining area.
22. View from the dining complex over the golf course – the only places in Southern Spain to have real grass!
23. Back at the villa, The Boys played in the pool whilst we downed Summer wine by the jug full.
24. I started joining the cardigan panels together but, even though I finished all the knitting before our holiday, I still hadn’t stitched it together by the end of the fortnight!
25. The Boys climbed onto the plane tired but happy at 9.30pm. They crawled into bed at 1.30am UK time…..and we had to wake them up for school at 8.30 the following morning, poor things!
Thanks to Nat at Threads & Bobbins for organising Sunday Sevens; a weekly blog series in photo format.
Welcome to another SSSS (South Somerset Sunday Sevens) – no. 86 or 87, I’ve lost track after this many weeks. Nat over at Threads & Bobbins came up with this idea to help you keep blogging in those less productive times. Pop over to her blog to see how you can join in, too.
As ever, I have failed to whittle it down to just seven photos (clue is in the title!) but HAVE found a way to make it less obvious that I can’t count – make a montage!
Although we went away to London last weekend for our wedding anniversary, the actual date was mid week so, of course, we had to celebrate again on the day itself. We went to one of our favourite places for lunch, Holbrook House, which is the same hotel that we spent our wedding night in.
2. These giant 25mm knitting needles arrived in the post from Wool Warehouse along with some super chunky wool. I’ve been knitting with laceweight yarn on 3mm needles for three months solid and was desperate to do a quick knit.
3. We spent a couple of days in the garden at the beginning of the week as soon as the spell of good weather started. Pool was filled, gazebo drapes were put back up and the daybed was dressed for the Summer.
4. I cast on with the giant needles whilst keeping an eye on The Boys in the pool.
We had snow this time last week!
5. Knitting continued apace the following morning in bed. I love how quickly this has knitted up. In fact, the entire jumper is finished already – I just have to sew it up!
6. Talking of knitting, No.3 Son asked if I would teach him how to knit. This is the progress of his ‘scarf’. Well, a scarf is the first thing everyone knits, isn’t it?
7. Mr H-L’s red shorts are nearly finished. Waistband is going on – this is the inside and should make him smile every time he puts them on.
8. No.2 Son declared that he needed some new shorts for Spain in a few weeks so, being the mother that I am, told him to go and make some.
An hour and a half later – voilà!
Like his father, his taste is not exactly conservative:)
9. Two more happy Stitch Academy students with their finished projects.
10. Our first barbeque of the year!
11. Lunch with the girls made a nice change as we don’t get to do it as often as we used to.
12. Second barbeque in as many days! Last year we didn’t have a single one, so we’re making the most of the good weather while it lasts.
13. In fact, we lit the woodburner (every garden should have one) and stayed outside until nearly ten o’clock with family who were visiting for the weekend.
Finally, a big “thank you” to all your kind messages about the hens. They are all missed, but the new ones are getting used to us now, coming closer as they get braver and become more inquisitive. It won’t be very long before we find them wandering into the kitchen, I suspect.
So this week’s Sunday Sevens focuses on the four days we had in London for our anniversary weekend. In common with many of you probably, it featured lots of good food and drink as we both fall in the ‘live to eat’ camp.
We also walked miles, despite having bought travel cards for each day as you see so much more by foot rather than going everywhere by tube.
Visit Nat at Threads & Bobbins to learn more about Sunday Sevens – anyone can join in.
1. We travelled up in time for lunch as guests at the members-only London Capital Club on the first day. Three lovely courses with aperitifs, wine, champagne and digestifs. Lunch started at 12.30 and we thought we’d have plenty of time to spare before our evening concert at 7pm.
Nope.
2. We left the club at ten to seven and ran all the way to St Martins In The Field where we were allowed to creep in quietly as the concert had already started.
The Thames Chamber Orchestra were playing Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony by candlelight which was magical.
3. We walked all the way back to Waterloo station via the Millenium Bridge, taking in a few sights by night and stopping in a bar before catching the last train back to the flat. For those outside the UK, you can just spot Big Ben at the top right.
4. Believe it or not, I’ve never actually been inside St Paul’s Cathedral before so we decided to go the whole hog and get tickets to the dome as well.
5. Over 500 steps later and we were rewarded with this panoramic view of the London skyline. Our knees weren’t quite the same for the rest of our break!
6. Our legs still wobbly from climbing all those steps, we hopped on a tube to get to Claridge’s in time for dinner.
7. The perfect evening which included Chateaubriand and more champagne. No wonder he’s got a smile on his face:)
8. This was a nice touch.
9. The following day and a trip to Liberty of London was top of my list.
10. I managed to kill two hours on the fabric floor alone whilst Mr H-L amused himself doing……..actually, I have no idea what he did for two hours.
11. Luckily, it was just a few steps to the pub next door where I sat down and stroked my purchases whilst enjoying a gin and tonic.
12. Two metres of ‘Lilac’ in the red colour way is destined to become a Summer dress, and the Art Deco print may well become a hexagonal sewing box for myself.
13. Here’s the pub shot for those of you who missed it last week, Mr H-L propping up the bar.
14. We wandered through the backstreets and happened upon Carnaby Street which is not the hip place it was in its Sixties heyday.
15. I just ‘popped’ in to another fabric shop that we stumbled upon and, half an hour later, came out with this amazing silk viscose lightweight velvet. A Summer jacket perhaps?
16. Our last night was finished off nicely in The Archduke under the arches near Waterloo station.
17. Cocktails – the perfect end to our anniversary break.
18. On our return the next day, we found that every single one of our hens had been killed by the fox, Cock being the only survivor having a lucky break despite losing all his beautiful tail feathers in the struggle. No.1 Son had brought him in the house to recover, still unsure whether the shock would kill him, too.
19. Lost without his girls, he hobbled around in the garden calling for them – a pitiful sight to behold, poor thing.
So we went straight out and bought some more.
20. Happy as could be with his new harem, he fusses around them within the confines of the run for the time being. The fox was cheeky enough to show her face again last night until I ran out screaming and scared her off, so I’m a bit reluctant to let them free range just yet.
So, after only having lost two hens to the fox over the last four years, it’s time to get to know some new ones. Just four for now, and another four in a couple of months when we’ve made a bigger run. I’m looking forward to getting to know their personalities, although it’s sad and more than a little weird to no longer hear those familiar clucks as the old girls hopped in the back door and wandered around the kitchen.
No eggs for a few weeks either, as they’re not quite point-of-lay, although watch this space as one of them is a Chalkhill Blue and lays blue eggs!
Previously Boys and Chickens, I have created a new blog to share my sewing adventure as 2018 is they year I plan to teach myself to sew! There will also be bits of crochet and cooking too.
My challenge: One year - I will not buy clothes - I will upcycle to make what I need - everything from underwear to evening wear! Join me for tips, exclusive BrawHem makes, and inevitably some hilarious disasters...
Sewchet 