Linaloo

Burnt

We're past the halfway point in the school holidays here and I'm feeling a little burnt out.  In a good way mostly. Our days are full of summer fun, bike rides, swimming, ice creams and staying up late, but I've been flying solo quite a bit with a husband who's been travelling a lot this past month. I've managed to squeeze in a bit of creative time this past week (at the expense of clean floors, I hasten to add) because I find that even a small dose of downtime does wonders for my sanity and helps me to unwind.

Short, sweet and satisfying projects this week include 2 new cushions for my sofa.  I realized that our existing cushions were over 10 years old and in dire need of changing.  Linen, thrifted doilies and buttons are a winning combination.

 

Then I whipped up a little rice bag for my neighbour who's been suffering from headaches recently.  My children love these when they're poorly.  Perfect for aching limbs or upset tummies.

 

I'll be taking a blog break for a few weeks - time to concentrate on my little family for a while.  Happy summer holidays all!

Tommy's quilt

(Click on the image to see the notes on the origins of each fabric on my flickr account if you're interested).

 

Another quilt, finished today.  My third this year.  My fifth ever. And of course each one I make is my favourite.  Tommy seems as happy as any almost five year old boy is about a blanket and has requested a pillowcase to go with it.  I'm tempted to do a union jack...

 

In other news, our summer weather has been very iffy, but we're working our way steadily through our list.

Fruitilicious

So this is what we did this afternoon - made our own smoothie based milkshakes.  My children are already big fruit lovers but this is an excellent way to get more fruit into pickier eaters.  They were actually hankering after milkshakes from rotten ronnies, but I said that they could make their own and choose their own ingredients instead.

On the left is Tommy's "berry special" with blueberries, strawberries, a splash of milk and a generous topping of frozen yoghurt.  And to the right, is Ruby's "flavour changer" with bananas, strawberries, peaches, milk and more frozen yoghurt.  I wasn't sure if peaches were blendable, but it turns out they are!

What's your favourite smoothie combo?

Built by nervous

Not really refashioning per se, but made from some of the fabric I bought for the big red and white quilt which barely got used. 

And guess what? It fits!! Yay! 

I am still ever-so-nervous about sewing clothes and I figured this top was so simple that I couldn't possibly screw it up ( I did end up sewing the first sleeve the wrong way around and unpicking it - but every good project needs some seam ripping right?!).  I would definitely make this again, the elastic neckline helped me avoid the gaping-at-the-bust, snug-on-the-hips look which I too often achieve with clothes sewing (I'm a classic pear shape). I might even be so adventurous as to add some darts on the next version

A good solid confidence boosting start I'd say.

I'm thinking of a Barcelona skirt next and I would be ever so grateful for any other simple pattern suggestions that you might have.

Camping

This weekend was our first camping trip of the year.  It rained.  A whole lot the first day.  I've never camped in conditions like it before, it was damp, cold and muddy and well, er, wet. My first thoughts were that it was a disaster, especially when there was a huge rainstorm in the middle of erecting our tent (I scooped out almost two buckets full of water that had got in before we managed to get the fly sheet up properly).  But we soon realised the children weren't complaining and that to them the downpour was all part of the adventure.  

It's amazing how viewing life from our childrens' eyes with a bit of tweaking expectations and going with the flow can make a huge difference isn't it?  Day two was spent exploring the campsite, catching bugs and frogging at the river bank and squeals of delight when we almost caught a few! 

Of course there were the ubiquitous s'mores around the campfire in the evening too.  She's a big fan.  Her top three best things about camping are "marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate".  Check out those finger nails!

Day three, the sun came out and there was a trip on the river in a canoe followed by a bit of swimming (ironically only the recently converted hydrophobe really wanted to venture into the murky cold water..) before heading home, tired and content, for hot baths and several loads of very muddy washing.

 

Apart from being eaten alive by mosquitoes, we had a very good time indeed.