Busy Fingers

Two Bun's went off to play with their grandparents and one mummy was left with a whole day to get busy making more Bobo Bun goodies for the Little Vintage Lover fair. Ideas that have bounced around my head while I cook, clean, entertain and cuddle have finally made their way to the materials that have sat patiently waiting.

Leaping hares raced out together in thick felted wool. I stitched and stitched until they became beautiful brooches.

Three now need to become four, five, six and maybe seven more.

I have so many different ideas of how I want to decorate the crochet bracelets I've started making. Today I added some vintage buckles to a few. I want to keep this one for me as I love the pale blue cotton contrasting with the pale ivory coloured buckle.

I also took a look in the basket of started a long time ago and then forgotten about things. From the flowers I had crocheted an age ago, I chose this one and with some felted leaves and a bit of stitchery it became a brooch.

All the while I cut and sewed I had these bright and sunny dahlias to look at. I like the way the colours of the fabric above starts to blend naturally into the yellows of the petals below.

And finally, two embroideries I made in January. They were going to become cushions almost straight away, but it seems it's taking a bit longer. I've left them out to remind me to actually finish them for the little girls they are being made for.

Pulled the Plug Again

When it's raining heavily and the electricity is being cut off in your village for a whole day it's usually best to go somewhere else. We chose a cosy comfort morning at the cinema. This weeks kids club choice was Escape to Witch Mountain. For the grand total of £5 (adults free) we saw a great film. It was wonderful edge of the seat thrills, and for nearly two hours I got a cuddle with both of my gorgeous girls.

When we came out it had finally stopped raining so we drove into the city to have a look at the Cathedral. Funnily enough on that side of the city there are some charity shops, haberdashers and an antiques centre to look at on the way in.

Norwich is a very old and interesting city. However much I explore it I am always fascinated by what I see.

The Bun's are getting old enough to actually want to look and hear the stories we tell them now, so I showed them three women from Norfolk who fought for causes they believed in.

After buying ribbons we passed Gurney Court where Elizabeth Fry and Harriet Martineau were born. Elizabeth Fry is noted as a prisoner reformer and Harriet Martineau was a writer as well as a campaigner for equality.

Just outside the gate to the Cathedral is a monument to Edith Cavell, a nurse who was executed in WWI, suspected of being a spy by the enemy.

When we got to the Cathedral we headed straight for the cloisters to have a charge around underneath angels, the green man and ecclesiastical folk.

After all this history we badly needed cake and a drink. Out we went jumping between the lines on the paving stones all the way to the cafe.

Then to make a really good day even better - as we walked past Oxfam we saw a lady unloading the most enormous box of ladybird's. We were in like a shot. There must have been tons as she said a man had already spent £50 the day before on them. We spent ages choosing ours and in the end settled for fifteen of them.

I'd just like to say that ...

I have a few announcements to make this week of projects I have been working on. Today I have opened Bobo Bun's Workshop which will stock a few of Bobo Bun's handmade items and vintage homeware. You can click on the link in the sidebar which will take you straight there if you wish to visit.

I have been working on my webstore, but this is taking longer than I thought it would. Might be hot and heady days of the summer holidays. So as soon as I have that up and running I will let you know.

For the rest of the week I'll be busy entertaining the Bun's and getting ready for Little Vintage Lover which is on Sunday. Fingers crossed for some proper August weather (or is that actually rain in England?).

There's still one more very exciting thing to tell you about, but that can wait a couple more days I think.

Lots of Beady Eyes

Vanessa had mentioned a while ago that it would be lovely to see some more of the furries that live with us. They all felt a bit shy about appearing, but after a bit of cuddling and the promise of extra veg they gave in for a quick photo shoot. So here they are.

First to say hello is Aunty Flower. She was just Flower when she came to live with us, but ...

... that was before Bluebell gave us all a big surprise and became mummy to ...




... the not so little Dottie.

Then there are our two very sweet dwarf rabbits George and Lucy. They live alongside the Guinea Pigs and in the maisonette underneath Pixie. George as usual is sitting up and worrying where Lucy is. They don't like being apart, but I think it gives him a rest from her bossy nature.

Oh and yes, Alfie's tongue always sticks out (as it's a wee bit too long for him). Lucy was our first rabbit - an anniversary present for Mr Bun who had only ever had a tortoise as a child. There's George pushed behind her as usual.

Finally - here's Pixie, who used to have a friend called Blossom who's sadly not with us anymore. Until we find enough space for goats and a Donkey that's all of the furries introduced for now.

Sit and Stay an Hour ...

We had a great day today at Somerleyton Hall, a place we have been coming to since the Bun's were babies.

We walked down paths planted with heavily scented flowers ....

... which were swarming with beautiful dancing white butterflies.

Found a slope and stayed for a spot of roly polies, before racing off again ...

... through the garden tunnel ...

... down paths where the fairies and pixies play to ...

... the maze.

Not that it ever takes us long to get to the middle these days as we know the paths so well.

Now where have they gone?

There they are, hiding in the Tiger Tree.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too.

We're getting the hang of it now.

On Tuesday I thought it was absolutely wonderful to wake up to torrential rain and know we didn't have to leave the house all day. Freedom from having to be places is a big bonus of holidays, so is doing pretty much what you want. Little Bun stayed in her jammies all day and we ate and ate whatever we fancied. Breakfast was pancakes filled with lemon and sugar. While a choccly cake and lemon drizzle were baking in the oven we made some popcorn to eat with our film. I took the lid off a few times as it made the Buns jump and giggle every time the corn flew out at top speed.

While we watched our film I made up something I had thought of the night before. I was crocheting handles for a bag when I realised it might make a lovely bracelet. I made a few through the film and sewed vintage buttons on later.

I'm really pleased with how they've turned out and especially love the perspex buttons with their cut out patterns showing through.

The Buns loved helping with the button choosing part of the process. Buttons have a real allure don't they. Somehow they need to be arranged laid out and admired before being put away again until next time.

I usually only make a few of each new thing to see the response before I get carried away with colours. For now I have a couple of orders from two little girls, one in pink and one in purple.

Today has been a completely different day. A day of marching along activity. First we went to the car boot. Not that this was appreciated at all as a real treat with mummy. I only found a few things as I wasn't able to look in the same way. Really I only have this zingy floral tin to show you.

It has some buttony treasure hidden inside.

I also bought a few books that the Buns chose and a few more whimsies. I'm going to ask Mr Bun to stay at home next week so I can go on my own.

Just a hop, skip and short drive from the car boot is a Whitlingham Broad. We'd heard there was a treasure hunt, but it turned out it was actually orienteering. We had a great times searching for each of the markers - old shoes, spoons and rubber gloves hidden by the water; through the woods;

across the meadow ...

back to the water again ...

past the ruined entrance to a medieval hall and on to our prize and much needed icecream.

On the way home we drove past a Roman town we've never been to before so in we went. It looked exciting climbing up the steps to the top of the city wall.

When we got to the top I was a bit surprised to see the Romans had left and their town had turned into an enormous field full of sheep. So with a lot of imagination and just enjoying the walk with all the beautiful butterflies we set off and had a wonderful time.

Amazing when you think this is a bit of a 1700 year old wall, but somehow I couldn't get too excited about it. It was the lovely company and the sunshine that made the walk for me.

Tomorrow we're off to play with Teena and her beautiful boy. Oh I do like being on holiday.

Hammer House of Holiday Horrors

Monday.

The first day of seven weeks holiday.

Happy playing and laughter starts the day.

I make coffee and sigh contentedly.

Plan to make pancakes for my beautiful girls breakfast.

Moments later there's a bloodcurdling scream and my heart sinks.

A Sylvanian duck has made contact with a little forehead and all hell lets loose.

The first day of seven weeks holiday.

Wonderful Weekends

On Saturday morning I came down to this quirky sign the Bun's had made. The colours alone are so cheery and match all the other colourful things that have taken place over the weekend so far.

When I went out to get woodshavings and straw to clean out the animals houses I saw these beautiful dahlias on the side of the road. For only 80p I got all of these. Each one is a different colour and fills me with such happiness. They are like an oil painting come to life.

Later on in the afternoon I grabbed a moment to do some crochet, something I never do in the daytime, so it felt a real treat. Completely different colours attracted me. Intense bright ones for the hexagons. They are part of a plan for a cushion cover. I'll need to work an increase and decrease edging to straighten the sides somehow. I'll deal with that when I get there I think. I've still to sew a back on my flower garden cushion, so I've jumped ahead somewhat anyway.

And talking of jumping ahead, I started something else at the same time. For a while now I've had an idea in my head of making a crochet bag. I wanted it to have colourful squares on the main bag and stripy handles. Reasoning that I start things and then take ages to finish them, I decided it was more realistic to make this bag for the winter. So I searched through the wool stash and came up with these fabulous shades. I was going to mix the squares with plain and floral, but looking at this picture I think I'll go for all floral. Too much is more after all.

Suddenly it was Sunday. Little Bun and Mr Bun went swimming and Eldest Bun and I decided to make Oat & Raising cookies (except we used sultanas as they are yummier). Being the control freak I am I actually stood to one side as a helper and let her get on with it for once. She is nearly nine after all.

These are only half of the cookies, the others were still cooking. They are truly delicious and quite a lot have been eaten already.

After lunch my little gang popped out to visit Grandad as Grandma is away in Barcelona for the weekend. I chose to stay behind and get a bit more of the bathroom done. It's a big job covering up orange and grey tiles and golden paint. After two years of looking at hideous colours I decided it was time to get on with a revamp. No money for retiling - so trusty white tile paint is back again. I've still got to do one more coat, but I'm saving that excitement for another day. I was going to go for a primrose and hot pink bathroom, but in the end I used paint we already had as part of the usual ecomony drive. I'm really pleased I did actually as it is bright and cheerful in here already. The light is pretty rubbish today, but the colour is an intense aquamarine. Today I wanted to make the blind. I'm so pleased with how cheerful the red polka dots look, such an improvement on dingy cream.

I thought you'd like to see Jemima who sits at the end of the bath. She started life as a nightlight until a toddler came to visit and threw her around until they were satisfied they had completely broken her. So I dismantled her and actually I prefer having her sitting there overseeing bathtime.

Well I guess they'll be back soon, so off I go to look busy and be ready with cuddles and more cookies.