A cry of help from me on Instagram and it was heard almost immediately.
Techie advice given on how to link my Samsung to the Mac and we are officially up and running.
Oh yes indeedy.
So news in brief shall follow from May to now. Still it's quite a long one I'll warn you now.
The Do You Mind If I Knit Blanket raffle in memory of Vanessa Cabban closed with a fabulous 258 donations raising £2084.71 for The Mental Health Foundation.
At the end of May I took the girls on their first posh trip to London with my mum to celebrate her birthday. Harvey Nicks, Harrods, lunch at Jamie's in Covent Garden to watch the performers (and just missed bumping into Ellie @jellyjamellie) before drinks at Browns and the train home.
The house sale trundled along and our home no longer felt ours. We were desperately ready to get out and move on.
I sewed and sewed as I was between jobs and so I made the most of the time before my life was packed away for who knows how long.
Dresses and skirts all finished and worn with joy since. The Eva dress above in 1950's fabric is my favourite so far.
A friend convinced me to give weight watchers a try to keep her company. I've never dieted in my life. never needed to, but I thought what the heck. After one week I put on weight as it made me so focused on not eating any blinking food or drinking alcohol that that was all I could think about.
Weightwatchers brought out the rebel in me. I went back for a second week and was offered the leaders phone number in hushed tones and a slipped note. I clearly was a desperate case in need of help. I was out of there, never to be seen again.
Now somehow, me being me, there's a stash of fabrics and patterns building again.
There's a dress that needs shortening and hemming before the summer truly runs away.
There's these new beauties that I'm undecided on. Dresses or tops? They'll let me know what they want to become when I drape them over me.
My creative space has always sustained me, kept my head in a good place. Funnily enough I'm doing ok without it at the moment. I don't have the physical space or time right now to get immersed in it. I've packed parts of myself away in a box as well to be unpacked at a future date.
In reality this is a period of change. Life is always about change, about moving forward and accepting that change as gracefully as you can. Our house sale went through in the middle of July.
At the moment we're in flux, living at my mother's house, I'm applying for jobs and once I have one we can properly look for a home of our own.
Then I will be able to unpack parts of the old me to add to the new me. Exciting times really.
A great part of that change was saying goodbye to so much that we held dear. I bubbled over with tears every time Bluebell and Olive chatted to me and hunkered down for a cuddle and I knew we had to give them up. All of this is and so much more has been neatly packaged up and put away.
In reality I feel the most alive I have done for years. I'm laughing and happy again. The girls are in a better place emotionally. The sun shines now and again and we have adventures.
The first adventure once we moved was to buy a shiny new car as I had and have plans for lots of trips. With lots of help from this lovely man I know we found the perfect car.
A few days later I took the car on a long journey up to Flamborough Head to stay with him and his family.
Then after a day back home I headed South with the girls Dorset bound.
Our first evening was spent in a hotel in Weymouth. We promenaded along the stunning seafront that evening taking in all the vibrant life it had to offer before ending up at The Stables in the harbour for pizza at the recommendation of Ellie.
The following day we headed to Lulworth Cove where we met Ellie and her girls for the first time ever. Ellie and I have chatted for years after meeting as bloggers, but this was our first ever face to face meet up.
We spent a glorious day together exploring and walking from Lulworth over to Durdle Door.
Then it was time to head off to discover our holiday home Little Croft.
A Tots Tv home that was a pure delight to stay in for a week.
Our first holiday as a gang of three. It was exactly what we needed to blow the cobwebs away just as I'd hoped it would.
I've visited Dorset many times but hadn't been for years. This time we also had friends to see made through blogging and instagram. On our second day we visited Bridport. After a mention on Instagram we were given lunch and shopping ideas, as well as my plan to visit Caroline's shop Zeitgeist.
Bridport was fabulous, I need to go back to visit everything else that we just didn't have time to see.
On Sunday morning Ellie texted to let me know the car boot was on in Dorchester. I threw some clothes on and managed to find 2m of French cloth and a pretty roses tin.
The rest of the day was spent visiting Portland Bill before heading off to Lyme Regis where we chilled sipping drinks on a lawn above the Cob. All very Agatha Christie.
Frome was another destination on my hit list. Probably just as well that Monday was closing day for many shops as there was a lot to tempt and delight in St Catherine's hill.
I was a lady on a mission to Deadly is the Female in the hope they had a certain green frock in stock. They did. It fitted like a dream, so I was naughty and bought it. That photo wouldn't upload mind you so not all technology is working just yet.
Bit of a stop off for culchur at Stourhead House on the way back.
Then we let the cultured visitors mask drop and had a hoot in the grounds.
We spent a wonderful day where I met up with Ash of Lazy Daisy Jones for morning coffee at Carluccio's. We chatted for England and then Ash gave me this beautiful tin filled with lovely gifts.
After a mooch around Dorchester we headed to Ellie's for lunch. Ellie asked me to choose one of her beautiful bags as a gift. That photo failed too. After a tip off to visit Dorchester's vintage store once we left, we headed off for a good rummage and scored a few goodies.
A few more days of visiting places and eating and then it was time to pack ourselves up and head up the country once more.
Now it's time for serious job hunting and future planning. Well maybe just thinking about the next few years anyways.
That's us caught up to speed. See you sometime soon.
Wow you had such a good time and it was seriously inspiring to meet you, didnt feel like it was our first time!! heres to the next meet-up, so lovely to see such happy gorgeous faces, your girls are amazing!
ReplyDeletebestest ash xx
I am so pleased to see you back in the ether, having wondered if you were fit and well. I do like your new look, you seem to be rested and relaxed. Good luck with the job/house hunting. x
ReplyDeletegreat to see you back in Blogland again.I wondered how you were getting on.You certainly seem very optimistic and excited about the future.Good luck in all you do.Barbara.P.S.Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteI admire your positive attitude. Well done for seeing the bright side.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a great time - sunshine, fab shops and some quality time with your girls! Xx
ReplyDeleteClaire@homesweethome2015
It's lovely to read about your adventures and you look fab!! xxxxxxxxx
ReplyDeleteA negative into a POSITIVE. Looks like you are enjoying yourself, have a great time
ReplyDeleteJulie xxxxxx
Glad you're all ok and are looking fab! Well done on the fundraising in Vanessa's memory - a truly
ReplyDeletebrilliant effort. Hope you enjoy the rest of the summer x
You have sewn some lovely things! Glad you had a good time away, looks like fun. Well done on a great achievement in Vanessa's memory. The money will be well used I am very sure. A great memorial. xx
ReplyDeletewhat a refreshing happy time, so glad for you! good luck with everything. X
ReplyDeleteThank you for yet another thought-provoking post. There's so much to look forward to in life, even if it is tinged with goodbyes and changes and the post reminded me of that. Even if I did have a teeny blub over your mention of Flamborough Head, where I planned to live happily ever after at one time but it didn't pan out, I soon cheered up when I saw your vintage finds.
ReplyDeleteABSOLUTEY LOVED seeing the two of you dancing around in Stourhead House grounds! You look fab.
Glad to see you and the girls have had a good summer - the new 'do' looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteBig hugs xxx
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your adventure xxx
ReplyDeleteWonderful post full of life! Good to hear that you are all doing well and I wish you lots of success with all your new plans! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!
ReplyDeleteHad to read back a bit to catch up, as like some others I read you had disappeared for a long time from your blog... I'm glad you're back with hopefully a new happy start, changes are always sad and it's hard not to look back but you and your girls seem to be going forward now, I wish you luck, take care. x
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