Last Saturday afternoon, while it rained and thundered outside, I started what will become a wall hanging. It was wonderful, after a frenetic few weeks, to find some time for this sort of creative pottering. I'm loving this so far. Once the letters are stitched down, I will arrange the triangles around the quote.*
And on a lazy Sunday morning, I came downstairs early with the kids. They got the paints out while I crocheted little rainbow squares and drank lots of tea. (And a green smoothie too, by the look of it. Melon, spinach and pineapple, I think. Surprisingly nice.)
They just need their white borders now.
2. A gloriously scorching hot first day of the school holidays. John bravely went out in the heat to the shop for a tub of raspberry ripple, and made ice cream cones for us all.
3. Packing our holiday bags. It's a tradition of mine to fill a bag each for the kids full of bits and bobs to amuse them both during the journey, and when we get there. The appearance of the bag signals the start of the holidays for them.
Slightly over ambitiously, I've packed two sewing projects (for the evenings), two crochet projects (for the journey), two novels and four magazines. I clearly think I'm going to be getting quite a lot of free time over the next week! Ha. Not likely, but I live in hope.
4. A two night stay with our friends who moved to North Somerset, and a day spent in to Bristol. They live in the country now (with chickens and everything!) and this was the view from our guest bedroom:
We visited the harbour area, drank iced coffee, splashed in fountains and enjoyed the sun.
We picnicked by the Clifton suspension bridge, and then spent a very lazy afternoon in a lovely park in the middle of Clifton lounging on the grass in the shade, before heading off to a nearby cafe for milkshakes.
It was so nice to explore a small part of this area in such beautiful weather, and it was even nicer to catch up with dear friends and watch the children slot back into old friendships so easily.
We are in Cornwall now for the next week, with my lovely friend Abigail and her family. We've all rented a house together in Gwithian, which is not far from St Ives. I am very, very excited. We all need a holiday.
See you next week!
* It's by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Enjoy your holiday! The squares are really cute, what´s the pattern?
ReplyDeleteI hope that you have a great time away and that you get to work on all of those projects! xx
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful, fun filled time!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely week. Hope you'll all have a wonderful holiday x
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays! We have bags like that too (not quite so stylishly decorated as I let them loose with fabric pens!) for holiday activities. Love Jo x
ReplyDeleteHave a fantastic holiday !!! I hope you get all your projects finished ;-)))
ReplyDeleteI love your wall hanging, such a good idea. have a lovely trip!
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing at all of the things you've packed to entertain yourself on holiday. I do that too, and end up not touching any of them. You've been in my old neck of the woods. I used to work in the old warehouse building behind the building with the bunting (it's called the Arnolfini now and it's a gallery). And I used to live in Clifton, not too far from the Suspension bridge. I'm glad you had such a good time, and no doubt you will absolutely love being in Cornwall. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful time! I always pack way too many things to do on holiday too. When we went away last month, just the two of us for four days, I packed three books and a ripple throw to work on. I didn't get anything done. But it's all about giving ourselves options, right? :)
ReplyDeleteLove your little wall hanging and hope you have a brilliant holiday in Cornwall. I have visited the county and I'm sure you'll find plenty to do, as I love down there nearly as much as Yorkshire. All take care and enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWhere would we be without Sticker Dolly Dress-up books and markers for the journeys? We do exactly the same, and yep, I pack way too many WIPs as well - enjoy your holiday!!! Chrissie xxx
ReplyDeleteHope you have a super week!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a wonderful and relaxing week away with family and friends! Enjoy your holiday!
ReplyDeleteI can see your crafty projects are going to be gorgeous once again Gillian and oh doesn't that look like scrumptious ice-cream! I love the goodie-filled bags for the children and remembered the paper dolls I used to play with when a youngster - they weren't sticky though, instead they had tabs that easily broke off which was a bit sad! It looks and sounds like you've made a good start to your time away, and what better than catching up with good friends and enjoying their company - have loads more fun! xoJoy
ReplyDeleteHow very sweet! You have a charming blog...very fun to pop in.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Thanks for sharing your happies, Gillian! I not only enjoyed viewing them, but I am also cheering you and yours on to happy holidays :) xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely week you all having. Fun filled and crafty x
ReplyDeleteI too always have many, many projects on the go - although I suspect you'll be a bit more successful than me at getting them done! It will be so nice when Joe will actually sit and concentrate on doing something for more than five seconds at a time...
ReplyDeleteThe crochet looks lovely. As does the wall hanging - Laura Ingalls Wilder has been on my reading list for ages (see? Another to-do)...
I now want to eat ice cream - and it's not even 7am yet!
Have a fab weekend.
Sarah x
Lovely Friday happies!!! I love that photo of the bridge!!!! Have a fun filled happy holiday!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove
AMarie xxx
What a lovely post. That wall hanging is going to be beautiful when it's finished. Enjoy your holiday. x
ReplyDeleteLots of things to be happy about, especially your holiday. Have a great time x
ReplyDeleteCornwall in the sun how lovely. Bristol is one of my favourite cities too! Have a great time. Xx
ReplyDeletehave a wonderful time. I love the activity bags for the children x
ReplyDeleteI really like your wall hanging, that is going to look fabulous when it's finished. Gorgeous rainbow crochet squares as well. I think I may borrow your idea of a holiday bag this year too, my wee girl would love receiving one of those. How good does that ice cream cone look? I have a craving for raspberry ripple ice cream now even though it's only 8.30am! Wishing you all a fantastic holiday :)
ReplyDeleteMarianne x
Some friends if mine are moving to Bristol soon, I love that city. Thank you for your photos I am looking forward to paying them a visit....
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your holiday :)
My nan use to live in Bristol and when I was a little girl, we always stopped on route to Devon...I love that bridge! So many lovely things in this post, raspberry icecream...yummy, great picture in the making, gorgeous crochet and the sneak peek of your new home for a week on IG look amazing...enjoy and I hope that you do get some you time! Sarah xo
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy your holiday. That's a great idea to take bags for the children. I always take far too much stuff with me on holiday to knit/crochet and read!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your holiday. After your busy few weeks you deserve a nice big break.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Meredith
Happy travelling! Have a good time.
ReplyDeleteSuper jeolous....I day dream of a holiday in St. Ives...regularly!
ReplyDeleteWe are just back from St Yves and we loved it! Don't miss the Barbara Hepworth garden gallery, it is peaceful and enchanting. There are pretty beaches and shops too... And then, there is also the light, there is something special about the light in St Yves.... Like you I brought paper piecing hexies to do, crochet, a book.... But I only managed to read a bit and finished some crochet, a cushion and some bunting..... Have a lovely time in Cornwall!! I usually prepare a holiday pack for my kids but used paper bags.... Yours are much more beautiful and personal.... A good idea for next holidays..... Pati xx
ReplyDeleteMy little holiday tradition is to draw and paint pages of activities we want to do in the holidays which we then join together into a book. We love ticking off each event as we do it and it is so lovely to see as much excitement for the family visit ages as the girls look forward to seeing cousins and aunts/uncles as we come together for the family picnic tomorrow! I'm going to start making up our own fun bags today and will even dig out my old "Little House on the Prairie." books as Katie will love these now! Happy Hols x
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely time!
ReplyDeleteLovely happies Gillian! I look forward to seeing your finished wall hanging. Have a wonderful time in Cornwall. I hope the traffic was not too bad for you (we travelled in the opposite direction, luckily). Cornwall is just perfect. Cx
ReplyDeleteSuch wonderful summer happies! Enjoy your holiday! And don't you just love Laura Ingalls Wilder? :)
ReplyDeleteA lovely selection of happies. I used to adore Little House on the Prairie and loved the books! Can't wait to see the finished hanging. Bristol is a great place. I loved the galleries by the docks...it's been some years since I've visited though. Hope you're having a super time in Cornwall.
ReplyDeleteI remember those holiday bags from previous years. Such a lovely idea. Have a wonderful holiday! I'm enjoying seeing a few pics on Instagram. Looks brilliant! x
ReplyDeleteYour Friday Happies always make me smile! This one was especially nice...such beautiful photos. I do hope you are having a lovely time on your vacation.
ReplyDeleteLove you wall hanging...I can almost hear Laura saying those words, "Home is the nicest word there is."
Good times and happy days! I love your hanging - a sweet idea. We were in Bristol last year and what I liked was that there was something for everyone so we were all happy!
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely time in Cornwall - and breathe......
Best wishes
Jenny
Can't wait to see the progress on the wall hanging!
ReplyDeleteLove your wall hanging and the crochet squares are going to be lovely with a white border. Happy holidays Gillian!
ReplyDeleteJane x
So behind in my commenting. Hope you had a lovely week in Cornwall. Love the colours of your crochet squares. x
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping you've had a fabulous week.
ReplyDeleteYour wall hanging is going to be perfect!
The wall hanging is going to be fab - enjoy your break, have fun!
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