D is for Doing What you Love

Aren't Friday's magical days? Unless, I guess, you have to work at the weekend. I still get a buzz knowing there's two whole days for my own plans stretching ahead.

Apparently I'm a bit more naughty and irreverent at work on a Thursday as the Friday looming excitement hits me.

Plans to read new magazines and really make a big hit on the back of this wee pink cardigan didn't get a look in.

 

The weather on Friday night was so heavenly that my huge and heavy pile of library books had to wait.

Instead we camped outside playing badminton, drinking Pimms and  eating a picnic tea. 

Bad weather forecasts were ignored by the sun and so we made the most of our British summer.

 

Plans to wear bright and breezy clothes were replaced by big wet thunder storms on Saturday. 

Miss Millie and I visited friends an hour later and ended up on an unplanned magical walk, sploshing through puddles under blue skies and a boiling sun.

Every time I think of that walk and the amazing deserted church hidden in the middle of a wood I kick myself for leaving my camera behind.

Back home I got back to my sewing addiction. I had an Annual Top to be finishing up and then a whole pile of new things I'd cut out to sort.

 Annoyingly I ran out of the facing fabric, so I whipped up a net petticoat and a Cowboy Clutch instead.

I have a couple of net petticoats already. They're so handy under dresses and skirts when you're tall to fill in that missing bit of skirt length. I think big frothy nets are delicious too. I love seeing the colours peep out.

I wore my petticoat under my dress the very next day for an outing I've been looking forward to for months now.

 Zoe's Little Vintage Lover Fair, which I've sold at ever since she set up five years ago, was taking part in the Opening of The Control Tower at North Creake (nr Wells-next-the-Sea).

Being as we love history and WW2 especially, have a weakness for exploring fascinating buildings and adore vintage markets we knew this was the day for us (3 of us anyway).

The RAF squadron based at North Creake had played a key role in the D-day Landings carrying out Radio Counter Measures to distract the enemy away from the actual landing points.

 The Control Tower has been restored by a couple who have made it their home as well as a B & B. Alongside this they hire out their vintage cars for weddings. I really admire people like this who have a vision and just get on with it.

  The details outside were breathtaking. I loved these cloud deco style gates. The interior was fabulous as you'd imagine, but I didn't take any photos as I thought it rude being as it's their home after all.

 Once we'd explored, chatted to friends and taken it all in we headed to the lawn to sit in the deckchairs and eat our picnic.

With our favourite tunes from the era playing across the lawn we relaxed and wished we didn't have to leave.

A perfect weekend ended with G & T's at my mum's on the way home to collect Miss Rosey and Alfie Blue. I got out of the driving by feeling bombed by Gin.

I know I promised Graveyard tales for this post, but being as it's D-day weekend I thought I'd better keep it all in sync you know.

Adventures in Sewing Land

I've been really looking forward to having time to get back on here again.
 I love writing posts around the pictures I've taken, it's one of many things that make me happy.

Working five day weeks has come as a shock, I last worked full-time in teaching in 2000.
Around all this my girlies have had exams this past week so it's all been a case of being super organised to keep the house running and stress levels down. I love working three days a week on the whole and being able to hatch all my creative plans alongside being a homebody. I earn enough for what we need doing it this way and then everyones happy. That for us is the best balance.

As this year there's no guarantee of any work for me in the summer (our courses run all the year through) and I get paid for each ten week contract, that means no pay in September. Scary, when the bills don't stop coming in. So I was lucky enough to get another teaching job for six weeks running alongside the days I usually do.
Phew - and best result of all, it means a whole summer off with my girls.

 

 I've been dipping into Instagram more lately to get my fix. I really enjoy the immediacy of IG, how pictures pop up and you can like something or get into a conversation straight away. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the speed of it all, sometimes I feel envious seeing what a lovely day someone else is having when I'm stuck in a souless classroom being sworn at and told this is all S**T. On the whole though I'm getting into it and enjoying this aswell.

 Now as these things go sometimes, my students didn't show on Friday, hospital and work being the reasons for some.

Once all paperwork and phone calls were done, there was nothing for it but to head off for the day. I chose a visit to one of my favourite Market towns where I found these flowers on the Friday market.

 Then I popped into the Haberdashers for a few more polka dots. I crossed my fingers hoping the small bookshop would have a copy of Tilly and the Buttons Love at First Stitch and can you believe it they had just the one copy waiting for me.

Next big thrill was finding the exact pair of white shades I've had in mind for a year or two in the vintage store.

While I was there I spent a happy while choosing fabric from a gorgeous pile.
I have plans for the red to be another Annual Top for me, the pale yellow will be all sorts of things as there's quite a bit there, the 60's towelling I'm going to turn into a beach mat and as for the delicious barkcloth - well I think that needs to be a bag.

I also came across this stunning handmade 1950's dress. I couldn't resist, but wasn't sure if it would fit as I didn't fancy the changing room.  It's where bodies used to be laid out when it was an old Police Station and town morgue. The room is small, with an arched ceiling and the benches for the bodies still remain. As the light didn't work I thought no way am I going in there.

 I arrived home excited with all my purchases along with quiches from the deli and cherries from the market for the man and I to have lunch as he was home working.
The dress wasn't my fit or style as it happens so I popped a picture on Instagram. My friend Emmie fell for it straight away and came to collect at the weekend. So that all worked out great for us both.

On Saturday I was thrilled to find our village honesty stall was up and running once more. The plants, fruit and veg we get from there are wonderful. At the moment there are bundles of Lily of the Valley, Cornflowers and Sweet Williams to buy.

Then the postie came with a parcel just for me. My mum had bought me a new pair of Saltwater sandals as my Adopted Birthday pressie.

Blue is one of my favourite colours and shiny too. What more can I say.

Then I set to for a day of much desired sewing.
I really really need my crafty fix. I'm not sure if you can call it obsessive or an addiction, but I yearn for it and get very grumpy when I don't get any time for making. 

I knew exactly what I was going to start with. A while back I'd bought this green and pink rose print, I wanted to make it into a 1960's style dress, but couldn't find the right pattern. Flicking through Tilly's book when I was skint I saw exactly the pattern I'd had in mind. After a couple of weeks waiting for pay day I couldn't believe my luck when I found it in our small bookshop.

 

 I drafted up the patterns, altering them to my length as I'm a six footer. That means dropping the bust darts and lengthening the bodice plus the skirt.

I didn't have time to make a twoile or want to, so I made a size up and then altered the dress down to my exact measurements as I sewed.

I plan to write a review of this book and a few others I've bought recently as I was really impressed with it.

I chose to make the facings in matching fabric this time rather than contrasts, but I thought a bit of stripy toothpaste binding was just the ticket.

Halfway through before adding the zip and sleeves I stopped for a quick fitting and fiddle with seams.

 

In the middle of all this we had an outing and family time so sewing stopped until late at night.
I was so in love with stitching my Megan dress that I hopped back on my machine and whirred away until 1am.

This is her all done and dusted. I love it.
It fits perfectly after a bit of fiddling, altering of darts and unpicking the zip to bring the back seam in, but we got there in not too long a time and it was a really straightforward pattern.

 I even added a belt as I had a red buckle I'd saved for years that I knew had to go with this print.

When I went out in it the next day I felt good, the dress was so comfy too, with no tight bits or pulling.

Big Thumbs up we say.

Camera back please.

See you later this week.

Up in the Air

A fun filled half-term and a full busy week back at work later and finally I've found my moment to squeeze in some bloggy time. 

We had a marvellous week doing a bit of all our favourite things and catching up with some lovely friends. 

 Mid-week we visited a place that we've only ever whizzed past on route to London. We were planning to drive to Greenwich that day, but muggins here overslept so we headed off to Duxford Museum instead. To be truthful we had such a fabulous day there that I'm glad I did.

I'd never realised how big the place is as you only get a glimpse from the motorway so I wondered how we'd fill up a day there. How stupid was I? If like us you're madly fascinated by the First and Second World Wars then this is the place for you. As a child I read all I could about the wars. When I was twelve I got the book on the Holocaust that I'd asked for for Christmas. It never seemed odd to me until my man pointed out it wasn't your average twelve year olds bedtime book.

 When we first got there my man and I got sidetracked by all the great books and postcards in the shop. Then we heard a moan of "are we going to spend all day in the shop?". How times change.

 Brief facts about Duxford. The site was first used as an airfield in 1918 and continued as one until the early 1960's. I was surprised that there were no concrete runways until the 1950's, but then that made sense when I thought about it as it would be harder to spot from the air and attack. For most of the war the planes were controlled from a watch room rather than a tower. This is where we found displays about the airfield and the men and women who had worked and flew from there. 

As there are so many different places to visit at Duxford we got a lot of walking in too which was just what we needed. In the middle we squeezed in a visit to the NAAFI where we drank hot choc from enamel mugs. 

One of the buildings that drew the biggest gasp of interest from us was the Operations Room. We've seen women pushing planes on maps with stick paddles on films, but never in real life. Apparently this is the only remaining control room left so it's really special.

 The Battle of Britain hangar housed the ante-room where the pilots had their briefings before scrambling to their planes. We wandered around an excellent exhibition detailing all aspects of the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. I can't remember the exact figures now, but I was shocked to see that more people were killed in one nights bombing raid on Hamburg than they were in all the bombing raids on London throughout the war. I had an idea of how badly hit Germany was mind you from a dear Uncle of mine. He was with the forces that first arrived at Bergen-Belsen and was so shocked by what he saw there that he stayed in Europe for years afterwards working in refugee camps helping people attempt to get a life back. He described the state they found Germany in and said it was beyond the destruction of even the worst raids on cities such as Coventry. Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 which ends with the bombing of Dresden also gives another side to my perspective of the Second World War.

 

 See I've managed to pop into the shelter with the family for the night.

Despite seeing some Spitfires, I didn't take any pictures of them. I'm always overwhelmed with emotion when I see them as they are such a strong symbol of youth, hope, courage and pride that I get caught up just staring at them wondering who might have flown it.

There were a few vehicles in the this exhibition that caught my eye too. An American car which was converted to become an ambulance and a London Bus with the figurehead of Old Bill on the front. The bus had been used to move troops about at the Front during the First World War and had a poignant brass plate commemorating each of the main sites it had visited and the dates ending with 1919 Home.

 Towards the furtherest end of the site we found the American Air Museum. The Americans arrived at Duxford in 1943 and so their place in the war is commemorated here as is some of their later aviation history. In one of the earlier hangars we'd seen the Sally B, a B-52 which is sponsored by a group of volunteers. Alongside the Spitfire this is the other plane that remains emblematic of the Second World War. 

Living in Norfolk, the part the Americans played in the latter part of the war is part of everyday history as so many of their bases were built here. We live in one of the villages where farmland gave way to an American base in 1943. I love visiting it - seeing the pictures of daily life, marriages and the ones of the christmas party when the children were invited there for the day. One elderly villager told me about the three saddled bike they used to get to the pub on. The most drunk one sat in the middle where there were no pedals. As for me, I'm the product of an American airman who was stationed in England in the 1960's and a woman from an Irish RAF family. Maybe that's where some of my fascination comes from.

In the American Air Museum you walk in from above the planes.  Underneath there is a section dedicated to the men who lost their lives flying for those two years. We were thrilled to see James Stewart's uniform in one of the end cases as he's a favourite actor of ours.

The final place after this to explore was the Land Warfare exhibition.  We walked through history from the Boer War, to the Trenches, the war in Burma and beyond ending up in the D-day landings. Phew. At this point the girls had more fun exploring the lifts and playing hide and seek. I think they were historied out. That's not to say they didn't enjoy it here as they loved it.

 With the war all behind us there were a couple of post-war exhibits to see. The prefab bungalow, which gave so many who had lost their homes affordable housing, was really interesting to see. We couldn't go in so we peered through all the windows at the rooms which had been set up. 

There was also a piece of the Berlin wall. It made me realise how much history my generation has actually lived through and been able to touch having parents and grandparents who played their parts in both wars.

 

 It was just one of those fascinating perfect days when we all had a great time. I even got driven home so I could do my crochet. I usually drive as my man hates it so.

Being history nuts we headed off to see Horrible Histories Barmy Britain last night. That was an amazing show, four actors working their socks off and delighting us all. My favourite was Henry V111's bottom wiper portrayed as Kenneth William's, Queen Victoria rapping and spinning on her head was a close second. Little Bun loved Burke and Hare the bodysnatchers singing along to the tune of Postman Pat and Miss Rosey was sold on William Wallace in Take Me Out.

Crafty stuff has been happening here too. More of that another time. I must just show you though what came in the post today.

 I was asked by a lovely lady (thought you might want a bit of anonynmity D) who I know through this old blog and the markets I do if I would read and review a book. It's the first novel, written by the daughter of a friend of hers. Of course I said yes and so here it is.

Here I am trying to finish my February book for the Year in Books and now I've been sidetracked by a book that has already gripped me from the blurb on the back. The Dead Wife's Handbook will most definately be my March book even though I'm already ten pages in. I'm most attracted to books that play about with narrative. The one I'm reading at the moment moves back and forth in time, this one has a dead wife as the narrator. The ultimate omniscient narrator I guess. 

I'll let you know my thoughts on this one once I've finished the book I'm already reading.

Bye for now.

Laughing my way into Winterland

Chilling was all that was needed this week. That and tons of laughter. So much lovely heartfelt advice and care received from here, love and fun at home and me listening to my body and slowing it down for once. It's all been so very good for me and in turn my family too.

Now I've nearly been a whole week away from here so I thought I'd have a look and show you some of the things that have caught my attention lately.

I've been on the usual round-up of museum trips with my students which we love and they usually moan about. Now after two long years teaching on this course, I finally, yes finally - have a student who gets excited about history. What a thing to have someone actually interested in it.

In the 1950's and 1960's part of the museum I brought home a couple of images so I could show you some of the things I'd steal if I could.

This museum celebrates all the industries that made Norwich a wealthy city. Alongside weaving and choccy making (the city used to smell so sweet when Rowntree's Mackintosh was in full flow), Norwich was famous for shoe making. 

In the shoe bit we found a box. It was full of daft shoes, so we put on a pair each and had a race round. I didn't get too far.

After work we were so near the bookshop that it would have been wasteful not to pop in for a fine mocha chocca coffee and a browse.

There were a few books that interested me. I couldn't resist this new one by Ros Badger as there was so much in it to tempt me to get my needles clicking away.

Knitting thoughts were put on hold for a while as there were night-time netball matches to get to and nasty old car MOT's to sort out. Netball was a fabulous huge win, MOT was a big old fail. One thing was for Pink Dog who nods away on my dashboard. Apparently he would obstruct my vision if I was under four foot. 

Over the weekend we got another peek at the gorgeous sun again. Saturday was a whirlwind of netball and dance classes and then on Sunday we headed out for a forage.

Alfie Blue found the heat and two long walks in one day more than he could cope with so he got carried like a baby for a bit. 

After a good old hunt around we found enough damsons and sloes to make a generous slug of gin. All pricked this evening and pickling nicely in the dark dark cupboard.

Back from our walk it was finally time to get out my needles and start on some of the things in my new book.

I gathered up my yarn and a sleepy dog and set to.

I'm trying to get ahead of the winter by making a hat and some mittens before we need them. Little Bun asked for some mittens in purple and a plain colour (so that's just what I am a doing). These are super quick to knit up so I'm already thinking of making a pair in orange and pink for me.

At the opposite end of lovely chunky quick to knit yarn is this fairy fine gossamer 2ply. I'd bought it to knit up a cropped cardigan, but gave up when I couldn't work out one of the stitches. Now I'm turning it into a lace scarf. 

It's unbelievably slow to knit with this on such tiny needles so I may be some time with this one. My mum did ask which winter I was intending to wear it.

I've also got some cream aran weight yarn to have a go at this super beret to replace my favourite Noa Noa one. Miss Rosey borrowed it and left it somewhere. She feels very bad about this and I wish she didn't as it's only a hat.

This afternoon my head wasn't really on the teaching. Funnily enough the students heads were on other stuff too. As we had four spinny office chairs in the room we ended up with a spot of synchronised chair dancing before launching the Spinny Chair Strictly Competition. There were some beautiful movements around the room with a few high scores. Best of all we laughed so much that we nearly pee'd our pants. I much prefer teaching people to laugh and be silly.

Happy Clappy

There are so many ways to measure happiness. For the most part it's just feeling good and content with life. Not feeling disatisfied, grumpy or down. It's finding pleasure in life from the small things to the big. Sometimes it's because you can bury your head in the sand, ignore the yuckky stuff and just get on with the good stuff. 

I have to say I've had a very happy week. Mostly I've been ignoring stuff so we can have all the happy times together because my girls are growing up fast. I don't want to miss the moments as they unfold and then look back wishing I'd done it differently. So the house is a mess, there's only just enough food in the cupboard, I haven't planned any of my teaching for the next term and I've ignored the pile of paperwork that keeps winking at me. I've not had any time for making either as I've put my time with them first. This is a hard one to go without, I really do need a fix very soon or I'll be a grumpy person before too long. So it is with happiness in mind that I thought I'd share some of the things that have made me happy this past week.

FIrst HaPpY - Having a Paperchase fix after the cinema. We all chose a favourite thing, these cards were mine. I was reminded of my man who hasn't shaved all week and convinced me he was going to grow the biggest bushiest beard - EVER.

SecOnD HaPpY - Cycling along the lanes near our home to find a field to picnic in and trying to find three naughty sheep who'd escaped that morning.

THirD HapPY - Dressing up all smart for the end of the pier show for hours of laughter, magic, dance and singing.

FOurTh HaPPy - Going on a fabulous bike ride with Nanny around the Binky Hall estate, feasting on a delicious picnic in the orchard before exploring the house and gardens.

FifTh HAppY - Coming home with yet more books from the secondhand bookshop. 

SIxTh HaPPy - Finding Crochet In Colour had arrived when we got home. Far too many fabulous treats inside to spoil the excitement for all you other hookers out there. Just one picture of temptation to show you. I'll definately be making tons of things from this as it's my new most favourite crochet book already.

SevEnTh HaPpy - Cherries, what more can you say. I need to get this bag hooked up straight away.

EiGhtH HapPy - Lazy lunch at the seaside shack before hitting the sands.

NinTH HapPy - Feeling glad I didn't sell this vase after all as it's perfect for these Gladioli's from the honesty stall.

TenTh HaPpy - Happy Shopper bags. Mine makes me happy all the time. At the moment it's stuffed with beachtowels and suncream instead of knitting.

I hope you all had a happy week and here's to wishing us all an even happier weekend.