A Little Absence, A Holiday and Some Sewing

 Hello everyone I hope you are all well.  We have a lot going on here at the moment and I am aware that I have not posted for some time. That is ok because we have to do what we can, when we can and it was never my intention to turn this blog into a chore. It is something I do for fun and to share with fellow dress makers.  That said here is what has been going on.

I may have mentioned but one of my older dogs has a spinal disc problem now that means we are at the vets a lot or have been, it has just slowed down now and the appointments are further apart.  She is doing well now and has steroid tablets.  They seem to be doing the trick but she can't walk far, has to be  carried in and out for a wee etc but is bright eyed and happy.  We have a range of things to help her and have settled into a routine.  My husband made her a dog wheel chair, she has a carrying bag, and a large dog trolley but we are going to try and list that as it is too cumbersome for us.  It would be ideal for the back of a bike though and has the trailer bar for that. The other problem is she is sometimes wetting on her dog bed so lots of extra washing. 

We have just been away on holiday finally after cancelling two mini breaks due to bad weather!  We drove to Somerset in pouring rain towing the caravan.  It rained Friday, Staurday then brightened for Sunday and we had a day in Bristol (a lovely place)  Bonnie got loads of attention in her bag.  Then it rained all night, then all of Monday, by the evening our pitch was flooded and we couldn't get to the toilet and back with out soaking wet feet and were drying the dogs off one at a time and pasing them in the caravan.  On Tuesday we were ready to call it a day and come home early but the lovely freindly owners were  saying let's move you to another pitch and the weather is set to improve.  So with the help of some kind people we moved the whole set up quite quickly to another pitch and after lunch it did start to clear a little.  The rest of the week was better, with the odd shower.  After all that we stayed and extra night.  The campsite is gorgeous and we have been before we just seem to be having really bad luck with the weather this year on all the breaks we have booked.  Years ago you could book a weekend if the weather looked good, but with more people taking a holiday in the UK now you have to book a long time in advance.  

So I thought I would pop in a few holiday pics here as I know this is turning into something of a ramble.   Above is Bristol and I found this a lovely vibrant place to visit.

Here wearing a recent make a shirt dress in Crane dance viscose challis from minerva.com  the pattern is New look 6651.

A shot of Clevedon pier and anther nice day there.

Above is the little village of Axebridge, very pretty and a really nice dog friendly pub.

Here we have Cheddar Gorge on a quiet day, oh the joys of not having to holiday in the school holidays, it was transformed from the last time we visited, then we could hardly move.  This quiet take on it was much more me.

We do take all three dogs away with us, the other two are stood with my husband, or carried. 

Wells Cathedral, a dog friendly cathedral how good is that, they actually let us take the dogs inside. Very beautiful,  it always astounds me the architecture of places all those years ago.   Wells too is very pretty and I will visit again when we are in that area of the country.   This is Wells Somerset, not to be confused with Wells by the sea.

On with the story...

So once home and we have all the caravan washing, plus pet beds, blankets, son at home so his weeks worth of stuff to wash.  Then catch up on some work, visit mum and after all that I get in and Clyde (my other older dog) has a stroke! Fipping over, constantly very fast, got up disorientated and head swaying.  So we have had him at the vets me fearing the worst again, but he said they often recover well.  So he has had a steroid injection and we are back tomorrow, he has to be carried outside too now because he is falling to one side but apparently this will get better.  The vet said he will get us a season ticket, somehow I'm not laughing.

Today I have had my car in for a diagnostic, it failed on emmisions acouple of months ago, they put it though a full service, ca-ching! Then coudn't find the fault, said to book in a dealer but that has taken ages as everything fully booked. Well they have found the problem so after the daignostic cost, then repair, another MOT, I am looking at a very large bill for that too. They are keeping it in to do next week. 

Now if you have managed to stick with me through all that I will share some sewing with you.  

So this one is not one to keep but it is rather stunning in this fabric I think, I made as a size UK 16 and the fabric is called Beetle Jewels. It is Simplicity 9265 and the ruffles are very fun.

This fabric is Polymorphic prism and the pattern is New look 6594.

These very wide leg trousers in aubergine triple crepe, it ia a vogue pattern 9361

This one I just love the trim on, it is viscose challis, called hounds tooth confetti.  The pattern is Simplicity 8872.

Now there have been a number of other makes but I am going to leave it there for today, I am hoping normal time will return soon as I feel I lost April completely somewhere along the way. 

Take care and enjoy the weekend.