Friday 26 August 2011

Garden Fun

Monday the sun shone (surely it shouldn't be such the novelty that it was, seeing that it is August after all)! We had a lovely day in the garden. The tent got put up and we lounged around inside, eating nectarines and I tried to finish off my book (The Memory-Collector's Daughter - quite a good read). I also put up the paddling pool and Joseph discovered 110 different ways to slide down the slide into the pool.
  
Ben doesn't seem to be one for cold water outdoors. He loves the bath and the swimming baths but the sea and paddling pools he's not bothered about at all. He entertained himself by chalking on his beloved Little Tykes Car - at least it was chalk and not crayon or lipstick on the wall and sofa - oh wait he's done those too this week :/




There has been a whole host of ladybirds hanging out in the garden as well. Joseph enjoyed them crawling up his arm. He has learnt to treat them gently and I heard him say to one ' Come on, I'll take you to your Mummy' - very sweet.







Appliquéd dinosaur t-shirt (a rescue project from a disastrous freezer stencilling project!)

I had some success with my first attempt at freezer stencilling, way back in January when I made Joseph a Rhino t-shirt to match the rhino on his peg at school. For a second effort (only 7 months later - where has the year gone??) I decided on a dinosaur design where the tail would go around the side of the shirt and onto the back. I did a number of coats to make the white really stand out on the blue jersey. However, when I came to tear off the freezer paper I found a lot of areas where the paint had seeped through - gutted!  I put it to one side, annoyed! 
Then later on  I had an idea; cut it out; did some crazy zig-zag stitching with no pattern or reason to it; stitched it onto some blue fabric then appliquéd that onto a yellow t-shirt and came up with this -


and I'm quite pleased :)

As is Joseph, here's his fashion shoot -

Here is how the t-shirt looks whilst bouncing


Model pose 1


Model pose 2


Think I may need the 'rest room' pose!



Bored now!

Tokohu Tote Numero trois



I love this bag design from Cheri at' I am Momma hear me roar'.  Earlier in the year, she designed and sold the pattern to raise money for the Japanese Earthquake Disaster via the churches Humanitarian Aid Fund. I have since made one for Alice, Caroline and now Sarah, who requested one when she saw Caroline's!! I love the pleated front and bow detail and have so many different fabrics which would look great in this style I'll probably be making two more before the year is out, for Amy and Gemma and who knows I may even get round to making myself one too!

Dinosaur gift for Jack


I made this cute dinosaur as a birthday present for my super cure nephew, Jack. Idea taken from the book 101 things to make with a yard. Fabric was a great find at a charity shop in Sleaford. I really like how it has a scaly look to it and how it was a total bargain too! Ben and Joseph rather fancied keeping this for themselves :)

Monday 22 August 2011

Can't keep these boys down!

An accomplished morning as we began and completed the first section of turfing in the back garden. I discovered three monster courgettes in the veg plot, I love how these plants grow without very much attention. We could have ratatouille coming out of our ears by the end of the month!! 


Didn't want to feel like the day had just been one of work so we went to the museum gardens in York for a picnic tea (Nathan and Joseph = 20 chicken McNuggets and fries, Ben and I = Morrison's salad bowl - oh yes that is how we roll!) some more climbing, hide and seek and mum in pursuit of great photos of her boys !


Nathan tries working out in the park alla the guy at the otherside of these tombs!


Where are you?


:)


I love Ben's pose in this one very modelesque!


:)





Triumph both facing the camera :)



It was pretty fun watching people posing for photos - they should see themselves :) I chickened out of taking one ( for fear of being caught) of a Ukrainian lady who was really going for it talk about 'Strike a pose' she added some star jumps into the mix too, definitely a highlight! 



Franchesco and McQueen enjoyed racing on a new terrain!

Saturday 20 August 2011

A day in ruins



Tagged along with Nathan to Helmsley. He had an appointment and I love Helmsley. Whilst he had his appointment, we explored. Love the quaint shops, the stream running through the village and the abundance of historical buildings in such a small place - Helmsley Castle, Dunacombe park and Rievaulx Abbey. Must remember that when the boys are over 5 ( and therefore become people we have to pay entry for)we need to join English Heritage as they look after some great places to visit in Yorkshire. We had lunch and then went to Helmsley castle.

The boys loved it as it was a climber's paradise!


 Bridges to climb and...


walls to jump off.



 King of the castle!



'What's up here?'



'What's out there?'


Lovely place just perfect for my boys (though they were shhhhhed as they enjoyed the echoes in the castle hall a little too much!!) and we'll definitely go back.

Summer Lovin

A lovely afternoon was spent at Filey beach, last Saturday (13/8). We took our tent and had a cosey picnic inside it on the beach. About half an hour after arriving, we had to pick the tent up and relocate it further up the sand as the tide was coming in :)



 We inherited a great sandcastle which Ben just wanted to demolish instantly. Nathan and I managed to fend off his attempts for about 10 minutes, then Joseph had enough of filling up the moat with sea water and joined Ben in the onslaught. The castle was demolished in seconds with squeals of delight!




An ice-cream and paddle in the paddling pool we decided to extend the day a little further and went to the RSPB site at Bempton Cliffs. It was a lovely evening, the light was perfect for taking photos. I love the colour of the grass against the blue sky. The boys loved racing each other and diving on the ground.



Wait for me!!


I love these next two photos of my boys



I love the summer especially for it's light evenings which allow for spontaneous adventure. We left the beautiful cliffs of Bempton in slight disgrace. I won't go into too much detail, I don't need to as I won't forget. All I will say is Joseph has no problem with alfresco toileting anymore!!



 A lovely day :)

Monday 8 August 2011

Just in case.

Dear Joseph,
Just in case it happens that one of your future children has an artistic streak which demonstrates itself in random impromptu moments when paper may not be around and so surfaces, not intended for such outbursts, are used instead. For example maybe they draw, no maybe they paint on your newly cleaned sofa, rug and carpet, perhaps a little like this ;


Just remember, your mum forgave* you xx



* by the evening when Daddy had cleaned it up with a rehired rug doctor!

Health warning - Mixing your drinks is bad for you!


I spy....



that drink ..


has hidden


lots of hidden


even more hidden


surprises in it! 


Gross? Cute? Gross? Cutely gross?

Favourite current photos


Back in the day, when summer was around! We had a lovely time at the park in Sherburn



Photo shoot with Nathan entertaining the boys with his toy aeroplane air show - they were very impressed with the sights and sounds of the routine and  I got them both facing the camera though not looking at it - I'll take what I can get!