52 Weeks of Happy...41/52

Thank you for the photo Abigail!

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Joining in with the lovely Jen at little birdie, here are my happy moments from the last seven days. This week I am very thankful for the continuing warm weather and a welcome slowing down of the pace of life and some time

1. Time to get the paints out with Bella and Angus. 

2. Time to play with my god daughters.

3. Time to crochet - in the car, in a chair, under a tree - it doesn't matter. 

3. Time to wander arm in arm with John on a sunny day.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend.

Ebernoe Horn Fair

We spent today in the tiny West Sussex village of Ebernoe for their annual Horn Fair. It's a centuries old tradition involving cricket, a roast ram, a fun fair and hot air balloons, among other things. It was a bit like being in an episode of The Archers, which is about the highest compliment I can pay.

We are currently staying with my friend Abigail. Her family has strong links to the village and it's traditional for them to get together at the fair each year, otherwise I don't think I'd ever have known of it's existence but I'm so glad we went.

It is incredibly, deliciously English. It's the sort of thing that village communities do so well; cake stalls, loud speaker announcements, tea tents, beer tents. There is a funfair with enough bouncy castles, rides and sugar to keep most children entertained for hours.

When the cricket match breaks for lunch and tea, the grass is suddenly filled with people making a bee line for the tea tent, or running around if you're little.

Someone had this giant wand-thing for blowing huge bubbles, and the kids had a lot of fun chasing them, trying to pop them or catch them in their hands.

We ate our picnic lunch under some big, shady trees with a good view of the cricket. I don't really understand cricket if I'm honest - it seems like nothing is happening then suddenly people burst in random smatterings of applause - but despite this I'm quite happy to watch it or listen to it. John loved it.

It was a long, meandering kind of day where lunch rolled into tea in between visits to the bouncy castle and cake stall. There was no mobile reception. I didn't really know what the time was all day. When we finally left around 6 the fair was just warming up for the evening's entertainment: the town band, the carving of the sheep roast and a hot air balloon. But the kids were all getting very tired and it was time to go. Next time we'll stay longer.

Ebernoe is very beautiful, as it the whole area. We drove through village after village filled with pretty cottages, attractive pubs, charming village greens and I kept saying to John "Let's live here!" and then we got back and I looked at the house prices on the internet and then we fell about laughing. Maybe when we win the lottery.

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my napkins and the playhouse. And hello new followers, you are very welcome! I will try and get round you blogs and say hello over the next week or so. 

A Garden Playhouse Makeover

We've had a small wooden playhouse in our back garden for the last three years. It was built by John and my Dad when Angus was about one year old and painted by John (under my strict instructions) with white paint and pale green trim. It started out well and was full of children every summer and much of the winter too. But as our collection of bikes, trikes, trolleys and scooters grew the playhouse shrank until it was no longer used for playing, just for storing toys. It looked like this:

So, inspired by a conversation with my friend Hannah (who has created an enviable playhouse for her four girls) and by this playhouse at Kate's blog Kate's Creative Space I set to work and it now looks like this:

I set myself a rule: spend as little money as possible. Everything (nearly) must be recycled or already owned. Oh, I do love a challenge! So on the outside the kids and I washed all the paint work and windows and gave it all a really good scrub. I mended the two broken perspex window frames and we planted the window box with geraniums. I made bunting by cutting up two old oilcloth tablecloths with pinking shears and stapling the triangles to fabric tape, then staple gunning the tape to the overhang above the door and window. It's not going to win any sewing awards but the effect is still pretty.

Inside, I gave the walls two coats of white paint and made curtains for the door and window from a large piece of pink checked fabric I bought in Ikea a few years ago. Curtain rails were made simply from cup hooks and lengths of wooden dowel.

And then the fun bit - furnishing it. We laid cheap vinyl floor tiles and I hung some union flag bunting left over from the jubilee celebrations last year.

The cooker is a wooden box we had in the loft. I used foam crafting sheets to make a hob and borrowed some enamel bits and pieces from the kitchen. The lid lifts up so it's handy storage too, should Bella and Angus feel the urge to tidy up.

There is just room for a table and a couple of chairs.

I covered up the horrid plastic table with a tablecloth. The use of lace trim is more to avoid the need to hem a circular piece of fabric than for any design purposes. Little cushions match the curtains (I really stretched that £6 metre of fabric there!) and ribbon scraps make curtain tie backs.

The curtains are absolutely my favourite thing about the house. The minute I hung them and added the tie backs my heart skipped a beat and I thought "It looks so pretty!" and "I want to live there!" I cannot resist the allure of gingham curtains, especially when they are miniature versions for a cute miniature house.

We celebrated the opening with strawberry milkshake and chocolate biscuits. 

It's a big success, which make me so happy. When I asked the children what their favourite part was they both said the curtains, straight away. They really, really like going in there and shutting the curtains. They've put this box of books in there...

...completely their own idea, and they sit in there and read books. Sometimes I find them in there first thing in the morning while they are still wearing their pyjamas. It's quite sweet. The other thing they like to do is take all the ribbons off the curtains and make ribbon stew in the saucepan on the stove top.

I knew when I picked a posy of flowers from the garden and put them in an old, broken mug and placed them on the little table that is was time to step away from the charm of the playhouse and go back to the big house, the real house, and do the washing up.

I took the flowers with me.

I can't find my scrap of paper where I jotted down costs, but it's safe to say that altogether we spent about £25 on the floor tiles, film for the window, foam sheets, wooden dowel, cup hooks and geraniums.

The white paint, oilcloth, jubilee bunting, cooker, cushion pads, fabric for curtains and cushions and tablecloth, and the table and chairs were already knocking around the house or garage. Bearing in mind that the playhouse is not especially watertight, I will be emptying it of anything fabric in the autumn and bringing it all inside to be washed and stored away ready for next spring. Then it will be extra nice to bring it all out again ready for another summer of play.

Thank you for indulging me and letting me show you this project. It brought me, and the children, a lot of pleasure. 

Picnic Napkins

You know when you see pictures of chic, beautifully styled picnics involving wicker baskets, pretty blankets, baguettes and wine? Well, that never happens to me. I - sadly - don't often have need for something called a picnic napkin. My al fresco dining usually involves small children, sweaty babybell cheeses, warm cartons of Ribena, slightly squashed ham sandwiches and a pack of baby wipes. So when I saw the pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for these napkins I thought: that's lovely, I want to make that, but it's not for me. But then I thought about possible thank you gifts for teachers and the guilt-inducing fabric stash I seem to have acquired, and it occurred to me how nice it would be to make these for Angus's lovely nursery teacher who is a gem of a woman and has without doubt gone out of her way to make Angus's time at nursery a happy one. 

It is simply two rectangles of fabric sewn together with a little pocket on one side to hold some cutlery and a ribbon to tie it together when it's rolled up.

I could see a real difference in my sewing on this project after attending the sewing classes. I wasn't rushed or tense. I sat down and calmly took my time and did everything I was taught; I washed and ironed the fabric, I measured and cut carefully, I pressed my seams, my lines are straight and both napkins are - by some miracle - the same size! Incredible, I know.

I ordered the disposable wooden cutlery from here and I think it adds a nice finishing touch to the whole thing. Details like that always make me happy.

I made two as she is getting married this summer and I thought that while I might not be having many romantic sunset picnics with champagne corks popping, she might.

The cream and blue striped fabrics are from Hobbycraft and the floral fabric doing a pretty good Cath Kidston imitation was from Ikea a few years ago.The top section folds down to hold the cutlery in place...

...and it all rolls up in a very satisfying way.

I made a little label just in case she unrolled it and wondered what it was.

We gave Bella's class teacher - an equally warm and hard working woman - a breakfast box containing Marks & Spencer croissants and two jars of homemade jam. I know not everyone likes to go in for the teacher gift thing, but it's something I really enjoy doing.

We are all settling into the rhythm of the school holidays here. Bella and Angus bickered and fought all weekend, like they were marking their territory, but today they are starting to settle down and have remembered how to play together again. The playhouse is a big hit - I will post about it this week. The main appeal seems to be opening and shutting the curtains. While the south of the UK swelters we've had cooler temperatures here. Half of me welcomes the respite but the other half really wishes the sun would come back. It is the summer holidays, after all.

And the royal baby has arrived! I had a dream a few nights ago that the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a girl called Doris. Yes, Doris. A great old-school Hollywood name, but an unlikely choice for a future monarch. Anyway, it's a boy so it's a good thing I didn't place a bet.

52 Weeks of Happy...40/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Thank you so much for your kind, supportive and wise comments on my last post. I was quite moved by all of them and were so many words of wisdom and generosity in there too. Time marches on, whether we like it or not, so it's another reason to enjoy the moment and what we have as much as possible. We are all quite upbeat here. It just feels like a normal Saturday. The weather has been much cooler and overcast and it's been a bit of a relief actually as it meant I could finish the playhouse and the kids could spend some time in it without everyone overheating! So, joining in with the lovely Jen at little birdie, here are my happy moments from the last week:

1. This sweet little rabbit-covered dress was worn by my very good friend Abigail's youngest daughter for her christening last Sunday. We travelled down to London for the weekend to attend the christening and it was extra special as I am her godmother. It's an honour.

2. Around Easter time Angus brought a little sunflower plant home from nursery. We've watered it and watched it grow ever since and this week it flowered. Angus is pleased as punch and drags all visitors into the garden to admire his handiwork. And it's nearly as tall as he is!

3. Strawberry picking with Angus and my friends. It was hot but there was so much fruit and we quickly filled a huge punnet. I wasn't sure how Angus was going to cope with the heat and if he'd be bored, but he loved the whole experience. And we have jam and pavlova and a bowl of strawberries in the fridge which appears to be breeding, it never seems to go down.

4. I've been attending sewing classes these last five weeks in an effort to try to learn how to use my sewing machine properly. It's been a revelation - I've learnt why it's important to do certain things in a certain way and how to change the needle (I've been using the same needle these last two years - apparently that's not good) and to press your seams (the difference between "handmade and homemade"). And I made a bag. I did bias binding and french seams and everything!

The First of the Lasts

I was talking to my friend Rachel today about an article she recently read in the paper on "the firsts of the lasts". About how, as parents, we're so focused on the firsts. First steps, first words, the first day at school. But the lasts - they sneak up on us. We don't know it's going to be the last time we read our child a bedtime story because the next time they would prefer to read to themselves - they decide that. We don't know it's the last time they'll want help climbing the slide because next time they'll do it themselves, and the time after that, and after that.

There are lots of "lasts" and changes afoot here in our house lately, big and little. It was my last weekly lunch with Rachel before she moves away and it marks the end of an era for me, the end of my time as a stay at home mum. Rachel was always my stay at home mum buddy. Tomorrow is the last day of term - Angus's last day at nursery and Bella's last day in year one. And today was John's last day at work. After almost ten years he (we) have decided to take voluntary redundancy and...I don't know. He might go back into the same area he was in, he might not. We might move, we might not. He will definitely get another job! This has been simmering away in the background for months but now that he's left it feels real. But it is positive - it's given him the push to leave a job he has not enjoyed for some time - one where there is very little opportunity for career progression - with some money in our pockets. It's making us be brave and take risks - something that doesn't come easily to us. I'm going to have to think about returning to work at some point, whether I want to or not. I'm not sure I'll enjoy being at home full time with two children in school - I'm worried the days will feel long and I do like to be busy.

Talking of busy, this last week has been mental. On top of the usual there have been school parties, nursery picnics, nursery parties, cheerleader performances. Everything seems to require something - a costume, a cake, my time. I do love it though. This was the part of parenting I signed up for, the bit I enjoy. You can keep your newborns, teething and weaning - these are the best days, right now. Whatever comes next.

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Above are a few snaps from the last week because I just can't do a post without photos:

:: An as-yet unidentified plant in the garden which looks like it might burst into flower but never does.

:: Lavender in a pretty vintage jug on top of the stove at Abigail's house.

:: Savoury mince pasties for the nursery picnic.

:: Cute wooden cutlery for teacher's presents (but really for the outdoor playhouse).

:: Making strawberry jam.

:: More teacher gifts - I'll do a post on these soon, they came out really well.

The Colour Collaborative: July - Summer Colour

Beach huts and ice creams. 

That's what I think of when I think of summer colour, beach huts and ice creams. For the former, imagine a long row of painted wooden beach huts, facing out to sea in a gentle arc of pastel shades gently faded by the sun and the salt spray. I have to confess this tempting image is as much influenced by the many picture-postcard representations of beach huts I've seen over the years, as by our actual family beach hut on Hayling Island.

But the ice cream...oh, the ice cream. What pops into my head straightaway is not the Mr Whippys and 99 cones I eat every summer, but the magnificent creme glace stalls on our many family holidays in France as a child and teenager. I marvelled at the sheer quantity of choice - twenty or thirty tubs of different colours and flavours laid out like an edible box of watercolour paints. My sisters and I would have fun trying trying to translate the flavours ourselves and I was always intrigued by the varieties we never saw at home like coconut, melon, pear and pineapple. You could choose one boule or two, or even three, and they were served in tall, thin, dark coloured biscuit cones, so different to the pale, bland, slightly chewy ones we ate back at home. And the colours! Pistache green, golden ananas yellow, bright, candy pink fraise and deeper pink framboise and rich purple cassis...slightly mysterious pale turquoise menthe and dark, dark bitter chocolat brown, so grown up and different to the sweet, milky chocolate ice cream we were used to eating. We are spending two weeks in France this August and I'm already looking forward to introducing Bella and Angus to the wonder that is the French glace carts.

But because we don't live in France  - or anywhere near a beach hut for that matter - here is some of the summer colour I see here in Yorkshire every day. It's my kind of summer colour; deep blue skies, dappled shade under the apple tree, flip flops, lines of washing drying in the sun and slices of watermelon ready to eat. It's watering cans and paddling pools, flowers spilling out of terracotta pots on the front steps, it's suntanned feet and painted toenails and swimwear hung up to dry. It's pink sunsets on warm evenings and picking our own strawberries and rhubarb from the garden, it's sunflowers lined up ready and waiting against a sunny wall just weeks away from flowering, and one lone yellow sunflower that just burst into bloom yesterday. 

When summer in this country delivers and behaves as it should (which isn't often, it's true), it is a truly glorious thing to behold and I absolutely love every moment of it. What are the colours of your summer? What do you see around you every day where you are?

Now, if I could just conjure up a nearby beach and the sound of seagulls then I really would be in heaven.

What is The Colour Collaborative? All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and share stuff. Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when they work together? Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its parts? We think so and we hope you will too. Starting small, with just five members for now, we'll each be offering our own monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination our ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways. We're excited by where this might take us, click on the logos below to find out!