Five on Friday

This week has brought mixed blessings with the weather, lots of showers and lower temperatures with a little sunshine to brighten your day.  This has meant that I have spent a lot of time indoors again, neglecting the garden somewhat in favour of a warmer and certainly drier pursuit. 

I have chosen feet for my five on Friday post as I have spent a lot of time contemplating feet this week in one form or another.  I have been browsing my many books and patterns for socks, I love the idea and luxury of hand knitted socks but don't feel confident enough to have a go.  My dear Mum who is an avid knitter is going to sit with me while I give it a go.

 

Next up in the same vain is a pattern that I have found for a wooden shoe to help the little ones learn how to tie their own shoe laces.  I thought this was a perfect little gift for the Grand children so is now on my to do list.

 

 

Such a simple but effective idea...

 

Thirdly, as you all know I love all things vintage and I have a very large craft room which I hoard and display my many collections.  This is a shoemakers last which I adore, I often wonder where the shoes are now that have been made.

 

 

There are various sizes, which are such a joy to behold. It is wonderful to ponder and reflect on a trade that is quite rare today.

 

 

The joys of being able to make your own shoes...

 

I also have a beautiful but small collection of vintage wooden shoe trees that adorn the craft room wall.

 

 

Last but not least is a wooden child's shoe mould, I really want to try and find out more about their uses.  I just fell in love with it and consequently brought it home.

 



 

My five on Friday featuring my take on feet, luxury socks, a simple make and sharing my collections.

 

 

 

Once again joining Amy over at Love Made My Home for the weekly five on Friday post.  Why not pop over and join in the fun.  I am busy getting the house ready and baking for the mouths to feed over the weekend.  Two of my daughters and their families are visiting this weekend, exciting times.  Have you any plans for the weekend?

 

See you soon.

 

 

 

 

Adventurers on the Loose

Looking after the girls gave us a mini break with lots of places to visit and enjoy together.  The marina was a joy to behold with some great boats and yachts to admire.  We imagined ourselves on the high seas  rescuing Grandad from the swashbuckling pirates.

 

We visited the museum and took ourselves back in time, even trying on some of the costumes from a bygone age...

 

 

We became adventurers and explored many artefacts from a variety of eras.  All this exploring certainly gave us an appetite so off we went to explore the seaside for a feast.  Fish and chips was the order of the day, sat outside eating it out of the paper traditional style.

 

 

Of course as adventurers we had to finish it all off with ice cream, it would be rude not to.

 

 

Amazing how much food children can pack away in a day...

 

See you soon.

 

 

 

Precious Time

We are back from a lovely week helping with the childcare for our two beautiful Grandaughters.  It was a real pleasure to spend some quality time with them and spoil them a little.  We were relatively lucky with the weather, it was typical British summer weather with a mix of temperatures and showers with the occasional hour or so of bright sunshine.  We managed to get out and about quite a bit.  One of their favourite haunts is the local park, Ward Jackson Park which is a real joy to spend time in.  It has a wonderful play area divided into three parts to cover all age groups.

 

They are both quite good at climbing the apparatus and are happy to run around and enjoy the surroundings with very little input from me so it was a restful period of the day.  I certainly needed to get my breath back after running around the vast field playing tag, exploring the woodland walk and climbing and balancing on the giant logs.

 

 

There is also a bowling green and stepping logs to explore.

 

 

The park has some wonderful Victorian and Edwardian features and is well worth a visit for all ages.  The gardens are a feast for the eyes with some very formal bedding displays.

 

 

There is a stunning Victorian bandstand and a fountain which is a pleasure to stand and reminisce about a bygone era.

 

 

There is also a wonderful lake with a Victorian landscape to enjoy.  Information boards show the many species of inhabitants.  We had a lovely time feeding the ducks, although I was a little worried a few times when Daisy was a little close to the edge.

 

 

There was even a wild garden to explore the many species of bugs which the girls really enjoyed.

 

 

A thoroughly enjoyable few outings with a different area explored each time we went, precious time spent with our adorable girls.   Are you blessed with such great facilities near you?  It certainly was a well used park and well kept and maintained by the local council.  They were painting the benches and clearing out the lake whilst we were there.

 

I am busy catching up with household tasks, the garden and of course my parents need shopping and all the news and photos from our visit, so I will catch up with you as soon as I can.

 

See you soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five on Friday

I am late posting today, I have had a very busy couple of days.  My five on Friday post is five of my favourite baskets.  I love baskets and am a great fan of the many styles and uses of a basket.  I would love to be able to make my own and have looked at courses at one time or another, but the time was never right.  Maybe one day.....

My favourite of all time basket is an old picnic basket that I have had for years.  It holds so many memories of picnics long gone and of the family travelling Europe.  Nowadays it holds precious cargo, my yarn cones.  I look at it often and conjure up bygone days.

 

My second basket is another old picnic basket, that has never seen a picnic since I have had it.  I use it for storage.  It is currently in the craft room been used to store fabric.  It doesn't hold the same memories but I love the leather straps and the ease that it opens and shuts.

 

 

A Basket that is lined is my number three choice, that again is used for storage, I store fabric that is going to be used in current projects to save me keep getting up and down.  It is the perfect shape and reminds me of one that I had similar when I was a young girl, taking my cooking ingredients to school.  It also had a plastic cover in bright red.  Some lovely memories.

 

 

I have a beautiful sewing basket that my daughter bought me one Christmas that I love, it takes pride of place in my craft room and is used on a daily basis.

 

 

Finally, basket number five is a basket that I keep at the bottom of the stairs a habit I fell into when my girls were small.  Anything that needed to be taken upstairs was thrown into the basket and then I would empty it out on a daily basis.  These days it usually my things that are thrown into it and it is emptied out weekly.

 

 

My five on Friday, five things that I have enjoyed sharing with you.  I am once again joining Amy over at Love Made My Home for the weekly get together.  Pop over and enjoy the weekly meme.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  I am heading up to my daughters over the weekend to help out with the girls next week, so I will catch up with everyone on my return.

 

See you soon.

 

 

 

 

Taste of Summer

The scrumptious summer harvest is wonderful at the moment, with every meal having something from the garden.  Even the humble burger gets a side order of lettuce and spring onions from the garden.

 

There is an abundance of broad beans and peas which is my Dads favourite so we are picking some on a daily basis for him to try encourage his eating.

 

 

Minted new potatoes remain a firm favourite, these days I don't put a knob of butter on them, but I do miss that luxury.

 

 

The saga of the sewerage pipe goes on with each day bringing a new crisis, even the road has had to be dug up and new pipes laid.  They are certainly thorough.

 

 

I have had a busy few days continuing with the clear out, I intend to stand at a car boot sale again tomorrow to try and sell some of our discarded treasure.  I have been busy in the kitchen baking to try and tantalize Dad with some of his favourites.

 

 

I have also had a busy spree in the craft room preparing a few bits and pieces for the girls for our trip to Florida.  I have finally stitched the fabric to the straw hats and sewed the buttons on to hair bows.

 

 

They have been in the craft room for days all pinned ready to be stitched.  I have also made a start with the babushka head scarves (not sure if that is the right name for them) using Disney fabric.

 

 

I am quite pleased with the end result, I just hope they fit the girls OK.

 

We are managing to get out and about a little despite the changeable weather.  Our home is only a 5 minute walk or 10 minute leisurely  stroll from the village centre which has some nice plants and seating area to sit and watch the world go by. 

 

 

We love to amble up to the beach, where the access road is covered in art work from the local school so always makes me smile.

 

 

The beach, dunes and sea are a real delight to sit and watch with the changing tides affecting the ever changing skyline.  The wind turbines do take a little getting used to but are now part of the seascape and generate a much needed resource.

 

 

The next six weeks will see a lot of holiday makers heading to the beach and this little village, but this does bring in much needed revenue for the local economy without affecting the majority of the residents.  The grandchildren love to walk down to the beach whatever the weather and enjoy playing in the sand.   Are you enjoying the taste of summer?

 

See you soon.