w'ur holiday ~ Bristol part 1

We are home from a wonderful, very full and exciting 2 weeks holiday in the UK.

We had so much fun and did so much and although I didn't think I took many pictures at all, I am going to split the trip into 2 or 3 posts...as it seems I still have plenty of pictures to share :-)

 We arrived on Thursday and took a few days to rest, revive and get our hair cut (well, Rebe and I did). On Saturday my mum was taking part in the Bristol Water Aid, Sing for Water. Which meant she was at rehearsal in the morning. So my dad and I took the kids to Bristol Museum where we had a lot of fun. But it was especially nice to be doing something with my dad.

 All around Bristol there are Gromits to be found, we really enjoyed searching them out and they were a special and memorable part of our being in Bristol this year. We found this one at the museum and much to Benny's utter delight we also found...

 a stuffed armadillo!

 The Water Aid concert was amazing, there was a choir of 1000 people singing a mixture of songs outdoors. As well as the beautiful music there was also this wonderful game of 'poopla' that the kids really enjoyed. The idea was, for a donation, to throw a rubber jobby (a poo for those of you non-scots) into a toilet. It was hilarious and Joa still talks about this as 'what he did on his holiday'.

 A few days later we went on a 'pirate walk' with this here old sea dog 'Salty Sam'. Bristol was a hot bed for pirates in the 16th century and there are such great stories to be heard.

 We discovered that there are over 3 miles of caves under Bristol where pirates, including the famous Black Beard, used to hide his stolen booty.

 The children (and my mum and I) were so captivated by these stories, another awesome day!

 The day after that we set off on our travels to Eastbourne to see my best friend and her family. The trip by train to Eastbourne through London was an adventure in itself.

 We found 2 more Gromit's at the train station

 our train

 This was Joa's first time ever on a train. The kids were brilliant travelers, so well behaved and enjoying all the new sights and sounds.

At London Paddington we had a few jobs to do...finding another Gromit and also of course dear old Paddington himself.
Then we managed to negotiate the underground train from Paddington to Victoria. I had taken the precaution of writing my mobile phone number in permanent marker on the kids' arms before we left, but it was still pretty stressful going down the escalator and through barriers and onto the right train.
But we did it and arrived happily in Eastbourne.
To be continued....

my fabulous dress

made for me by Rebe (age 7)

 She made it by drawing around a dress of mine on some vintage fabric that's been in my stash for a while.

 I sewed up her seams on the machine. She had hand sewn them with bright blue thread and my doll making needle, but I don't think they would have stood up to lots of taking on and off, so I machined them and hemmed it for her. Then she set about putting on the finishing touches: a felt flower on the front and crazy rainbow tassels and loops of coloured thread along the bottom.

I worn it with pride and a wry grin into town today (I didn't get that many funny looks).
Thank you Rebe, you clever, sweet, kind thing :-)
We're off on holiday tomorrow for a couple of weeks to visit friends and family (and a tiny wee brand new baby) in the UK. So I'll see you when I get back well rested and filled with good food and memories.

a felt dog

While I was making the mouse house a few days ago, the kids sat at the table and sewed with me.

 The boys happily sewed lots of buttons onto pieces of felt.

 and Rebe made an un-birthday present for her friend

 wowzer!!! this girl is good!!

Rebe's felt dog

 She drew and cut out all the pieces. I machined them together for her, as they would take too long to hand sew and she wanted to take him to the party she was going to for her friend.

she's sewing him a ball

 She did everything else from the button joints to the embroidery and accessories.

 Clever, clever lady!!
And her next project....

a dress for me!
How cool!
 I think I'll start teaching her how to use the machine when we get back from our holiday! Goodness knows what she will sew next. The thing I love about her creativity most is her complete confidence and lack of fear. It took me YEARS to build up the courage to sew myself a dress, and here she is age 7, just deciding that is what she is going to do.
Love it :-)

take along mouse house

Rebe has been invited to a wee friend's birthday party tomorrow. We put our heads together and came up with a present she will hopefully like:

A take along mouse house :-)

it folds up and buttons with a little wooden button like a handbag

the mouse house and Katie's mouse

cooking in the kitchen

relaxing in the living room

running a nice hot bath

mouse bliss

tucked up in bed :-)

 I probably had way too much fun making this gift. I used lots of scraps of felt and fabric. The mouse herself is white felt stuffed with a little sheep's wool. I designed each room on paper then found the right pieces of fabric and machined them all together. The whole thing is backed on a firmer weave fabric to give it a bit of strength and durability.
I hope the birthday girl will get much joy and pleasure from it :-)

r & r

We are finally on summer holidays. The last weeks of term were just so busy and full. Both of the boys had their birthdays and Benny had his first Birthday party to which he had invited 5 little friends.

sugar armadillo's, top hats and rice crispy cakes for the party

Benny's birthday cake

 On top of that Benny had his last day ever at pre-school and there was a little celebration for that. Rebe had her last day of school, Benny had a trial visit to big school. I also had to take the car to be tested for it's NCT and Benny had a follow up appointment at the hospital to check his hearing (which has vastly improved since he had grommets inserted before Christmas).

All of this really took it's toll on me and I burnt out feeling very tired and very lonely. We had planned to go camping for a few nights in west cork, taking in an open air theater show and the sculpture garden we so love, but it felt way too much for me and although the kids were very disappointed we decided that I really couldn't manage it. So instead we have been resting and relaxing.

a picture Rebe took of one of her adventure kits

 There have been 'adventure' games at home. These involve a lot of planing and packing and very little actual adventuring, but I guess the fun is all in the planning.

And we have spent the last 3 days on the beach. The weather has been wonderful and we have packed lunches and buckets and spades, I have taken my knitting and a good book and we have luxuriated in the sunshine, gentle breezes and open space to play.

freshly baked focaccia eaten warm in the sunshine

I feel so much better, happy and peaceful and well rested. We have nothing more planned for the whole week, until Thursday when we are travelling to the UK for a 2 week holiday. Thank goodness for sunshine and holidays and the beach!

us

Benny's 5th Birthday

started at 5.15 am (eeek!)

 the morning sunlight was streaming in through the window as I lit 5 candles on the birthday ring and we sang Happy Birthday.

 He opened his presents from me, a much desired scooter that we picked out a few weeks ago and has been waiting for him on top of the cupboard. He was climbing up on chairs to peek at it everyday in feverish anticipation.

 A book, The Wildest Brother, that he had been longing to read

a very sweet picture painted for him by his little brother.

He scootered to pre-school this morning where they sang for him too and celebrated with little cakes we had made. Andy picked him up and brought him back for a birthday tea party lunch and more presents.

 Rebe decorated this ice cream cake for him (he is having a wee party on Saturday and I am making a proper cake for that, and what with Joa's birthday cake on Monday, I just couldn't face making another, so this was a great compromise...)

 perfect to have with Benny's favourite...green jelly

 The afternoon was all about playing with new toys and when we were all dropping with tiredness we watched some Wallace and Gromit sent by a dear special lady.

Oh my dear Benny, my wise little guru boy. How much you have grown this year. You are tall and strong in your body, but you are brimming with yourself. A new confidence. You introduce yourself so sweetly to new play mates, you are so kind and will give anything you have. You are very thoughtful and like to make sure you understand everything. If you ask me a questions and I answer 'u-huh', you say quietly to yourself 'u-huh, that means yes'. Or if Rebe says' forever', you say 'that means loads of days and loads of nights'. My heart is so full of you, you are light and peace for me. You have this very special gift of being able to give a 'calm down cuddle' and it really works. You give yourself completely to me when I need a hug, content to just be and to hug. You still love green and you really love armadillo's. You love being outside and I often watch you without you knowing it, sneaking into the greenhouse and nibbling away at lettuces and rocket and peas. This next year will be a big one for you, it will be demanding being a school boy, and I hope for you that it is filled with joy and laughter and friendship. I love you Benny x x

tutorial: a wee tie

Benny loves wearing ties. I started making them for him last summer (blog post here) and I promised then that I would make a tutorial.

I made Benny 2 new ties for his birthday tomorrow and took picture of the process, so here is the promised tutorial :-)

First make your template. If you have a tie at home, just draw around this. If it is a small child's tie then give yourself a 1/2 inch all around it for seam allowance and if it is an adult tie, just draw around it. 

 If you don't have a tie to draw around you can draw one out for yourself.
Draw a line 3 inches across. In the center of this line measure down 1.5 inches. Draw a straight line from the centre point to each edge. At the edge points measure 13 inches along, tapered in slightly so that you have a tie shape, like in the picture above.

 Cut around your tie. Double your fabric over right side in and then pin your template onto the wrong side of your fabric. draw and cut around this.

 remove template but leave pins in place

 starting at the top sew all the way around the outside of the tie (still on the wrong side)

 clip the edges

turn the tie right side out. I use a knitting needle to make sure that all of the edges are pushed out then iron to get the lovely pointed edges.

 about 4 inches down from the top, fold the tie fabric behind the tie like this.

 then fold the rest of that across the front of the tie leaving enough to tuck behind to make a neat pretend knot.

 before you sew up the back, you need about 14 inches of elastic. Insert one end of elastic about 1/2 inch into the tie and making sure the elastic is not twisted place the other end of the elastic into the other side of the tie. Pin into place

 Stitch along the top of the tie, firmly stitching the elastic into place,

 then stitch down all of the fabric folds.
And that's it, a wee boy's tie.

Happy sewing :-)