December...ing

 As December is well under way I thought it was maybe time for an 'ing' post, just one more week for us in School but out of School I am busy as ever and the weekends just never seem long.  Here goes...

Loving the children's attitudes in School at the moment as they have all been so amazing!  They came back after the summer with everything different and weird after being off for so long, they have taken to constant hand washing, being escorted for every toilet trip and segregated from the rest of the School and still carried on without complaint and lovely smiling faces every day.  I just wanted to say that first of all as I am sure it is the same every where, children are just so adaptable and brilliant.

Reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, this is set in Barcelona and the story revolves around a discovered book and its mysterious author. I started it ten days ago so this is slow going for me but it is one of those books you can't rush.  I am fluctuating at the moment between loving it and wondering come on where is this going?   So I will let you know my final thoughts  later.

Also enjoying Imagine a Forest, this is a book on folk art that I treat myself to and it has been inspiring some of my latest handbags.  I am using tips from the book and then adding my own twist, of course it is a bit different as I am creating in fabric so anything I make cannot be too fussy or it would take forever to stitch. 

Making a few bags this past week, as I mentioned I am enjoying the folk theme so this is what I have been working on.  First of all I am trying to get back into writing down what I do each day in a creative way and adding any ideas or doodles to that.  If I get down things on paper as they come to me I find I have more ideas for what to make and in effect I do more. Here are the last two bags...

 

I have still been making my regular bags too, these more recent ones take me more time to complete as ponder what to put where and there is a lot more stitching.  Here are a few of my others...

The difficulty at this time of year is always when to take the photographs, I don't seem to be able to get good daylight in the house even at weekends and in the week it is impossible as you leave in the dark and come home in the dark. Speaking if which...

Walking in the dark and in the rain, there has been plenty of that. Wiping down dogs constantly and cleaning boots.  We went to Chatsworth to see it lit up the other evening as we really wanted to do something a bit Christmasy.  You have to book a slot and ours was 5.30, it was raining and very cold but we wrapped up and went in good spirits.  Now I have been to Chatsworth twice this past year and loved it both times but this did not do it for me.  It was £30 for the three of us and the part that was lit up maybe took twenty minutes to walk around (slowly) you could explore the rest of the gardens if you wished but in the pitch black nobody was doing that of course.  If you had an earlier slot you could have made the most of the rest of the gardens and then just enjoyed the lit part just before you left.  So without sounding like a party pooper please do that if you go and get your slot while it is light.  Other wise the only way you can stay for very long is if you stand around in the lit parts drinking over priced mulled wine.  Here are some very dark shot of it anyway...

As you can see out camera was not up to the task of taking such dark images, the bits we saw were nice but with an hour trip there and back you can see my disappointment that it was such a short event.

We have seen some lovely lights in out local neighbourhood for free, and I would urge anyone with children to take them on a dark walk around your area at the moment to spot all the lovely house lights. These are in the local community garden near the park, they look lovely lit up but I thought I would show them in the daylight so you can actually see what I mean.

Baking chocolate cakes, I have got quite good at vegan gf chocolate cake now though it takes a slightly different theme every time I bake it.  This time it was Belgian dark chocolate, apple and coconut, I know it sounds odd but I just got all involved in it then realised I had no bananas!  So applesauce it was and of course there was coconut milk that needed using up, it all worked a treat and my son preferred it.

This evening I am making date, banana and cashew bars as I now have the bananas and these will keep in the fridge. No images as they are still baking.

Watching The crown still, we are on the final series now and only a few more episodes  to go it has really brought home just how little I know about the royal family.  I know it is a dramatization but all the facts at the end and who they are related to is just so interesting, I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I have.

Wondering what to make with the dress fabric I have bought and also my extra piece from Minerva, I have not been very inspired by the last few Burda magazines and I have two very pretty pieces that Don't want to cut until I am sure what to do.  I have also ordered a piece today to make a vintage style dress for my son's girlfriend for Christmas, that one is from Burda from the vintage edition.  She chose the pattern herself so I will have that to crack on with too. 

Shopping for a few bits for our sons today, we don't go mad here with the whole presents thing but we like to get our children something (well they are grown men now) and then they have money to do as they wish. We ventured out today to get them something to wrap up. 

Feeling very blessed that we are all safe and well, take care everyone and have a good week.

Sofa Quilt

I have to admit to being a bit of a cheat with my quilt, I didn't continue with the hexagons for the whole quilt you see.  After I had made twelve hexagon flowers and arranged them on the fabric to have a think I then cut out the rest of my hexagons in a white and pale blue stripe.  Well when I put them beside the flowers the design was almost lost, I had a bit of a rethink and decided to go with a grey spotty background and stitch the hexagon flowers to it in a uniform way.  It may not have been my original intention but I am very happy with it, all the lovely colours stand out.

It has been on the sofa a couple of days now so it is serving it's purpose and the dogs seem to like it!  I used some plain white cotton for the backing and I cut strips of the spotty fabric to bind it.  I did want a contrast but nothing I had was big enough and went with it and I didn't want to buy  binding especially.  The wadding has been sitting in my cupboard for some time, I have only hand stitched all the way through where the flowers are, I think it may need more to stop the movement so any tips would be appreciated as to designs and so on as I haven't really done many  quilts.  The only big one I made years ago was machine stitched through in diamonds, I don't really want to do that to this one.

   

We have been out walking in a another new spot today, Agden Reservoir Bradfield.  The superb weather once more put a beautiful sky over everything and we felt like the only people who knew about this one for most of the way around.  We eventually saw a couple of other people but on the whole very quiet.

The sun on the water looked very inviting (not that I would go in and you can't of course).

 The path was more rugged on this walk so maybe that was why we saw less people, it certainly wouldn't be suitable for anyone unsteady on their feet but if you want to get way from it all it is ideal.

 Here we were on the way back down the road and in the very distance we could see Dam Flask that we walked around last week.

 Back down in the village there was a game of cricket taking place.

All very English village.

Dam Flask

The weather is getting cooler but there are still plenty of days of sunshine, I am really pleased with the summer this year it is usually a bit of a wash out as soon as we break for the summer but this year has made a lovely change.  This weekend we took the dogs to Dam Flask for a walk, it was quiet with just a few dog walkers and runners about.  We have been before but started from a different point this time, we both mentioned how pretty the local village is and again were pleasantly surprised by the beauty in our city.  

 The water was quite low in places despite the fact that it has been raining this last week, I suppose it will take some time to fill what has been depleted over these  past months.

We ended the walk with a drink and some chips, it looked as though a few other people had the same idea.

 Earlier this week  I finished the book The Radium Girls, this was a really good book but very distressing. I was quite shocked that I knew nothing of this subject but I would imagine that lots of cases of profit before life get swept under the table!   The book is about the girls who worked in the workshops and factories painting the luminous dials onto clocks and watches (both domestic and for military use in the war).  This paint contained radium which the workers were told repeatedly was safe, they were even instructed to tip the brushes in their mouths to make a fine point!  The resulting health implications were horrendous.  I would recommend reading this book to honour the women who fought for their cases even as they were dying.

I have just started a little quilt for my sofa as the dogs always sit there with me and I like to have a throw of some sort for them to sit on.  The one  I am currently using just appears to attract dog hair which is not ideal, the one I am making is all cotton so it should just brush or hoover straight off, I hope!

These are the bits I have started sewing together, I am wondering whether to sew a few like this then do neutral bits in-between or just stitch them altogether as they are?  I have seen this image below and that is got me wondering about the neutral bits.

 

Wentworth Walk and Books this Month

Today I discovered this wonderful blog called casual ramblers it is an amazing source of information if you like walking and are looking for a new route to take.  To be honest I can't even remember what I was searching at the time when I came across it because I know I did not put in any of those key words. Still it was very handy as we were just saying this morning what shall we do today, and did anyone want to go anywhere?

  When I stumbled on this  blog one of the first posts I read was about a round walk at Wentworth and while I have been to Wentworth garden centre many times I have not really explored the area beyond that. So I printed off the route and we got the dogs in the car, most of my dog walking takes place near my house but just recently I have been thinking there are lots of places just a short drive away so it is good to get out and see different scenery.

We parked in the beautiful Wentworth village and after crossing our first field we saw this...

It is a gorgeous converted windmill, actually people were sitting in the garden I noticed as we passed. I bet they get fed up of people taking photos of their house. Oops!

It is a beautiful area and you pass over lots of farm land on this walk, therefore the dogs remain on a lead.  It was just as well really as it warmed up and they would have got too hot had they been running around.  There were lots of areas of shade as we passed through woodland so this was a relief, it was cloudy and breezy when we set off so we thought an ideal time to have a good walk with the dogs!

The walk has a definite  route as I said it can be found online in the form of a leaflet called Wentworth walk 9 or if you follow the link on the blog above he gives very good directions too.  There are also lots of signs on the footpaths and styles saying doorstep walk. 

You pass this amazing structure called the Needle's Eye which was built by the Charles the second Marquess of Rockingham between 1730 and 1782, apparently to settle a wager that he could ride a horse and carriage through the eye of a needle. It is an interesting sight anyway and in a lovely location.

We think this walk was maybe between 4-5 miles maybe more 5 for us as we set off walking back up a field then realised maybe we should be going the other way, so a bit of backtracking there. Usually my husband tracks it on his phone but he forgot today and our route didn't state the distance.  Many of the other walks on the blog I mentioned  do state the distance and difficulty.

The route also takes you past Elsecar Heritage Centre which is a nice place to visit if you have never been there.  We just stopped to let the dogs have a drink then carried on.

More gorgeous scenery then back up through the village for a drink outside a pub.  This is a another lovely walk to return to and it will be interesting to see how it looks through the changing seasons.

As I have had a bit of time I have finished  a few books this past month, the good thing being I have really enjoyed the ones I have read.  This is partly because I have a new thing of deciding fairly early on if it is my sort of thing and if not I just stop and move on.  There are so many books there is just no point in persevering just because I have started something, I used to have a real problem with that I've started so I'll finish ideal.

So first up was Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant, it may not be for everyone as it is historical and about life in a convent but I really enjoyed it.

This story is set in Italy in the city of Ferrara. It is 1570 and Serafina is sent to the convent of Santa Caterina against her will.   This is a story about the ongoing struggle of one, strong determined young woman in a time when women were expected to quietly accept their lot. There is also a story of relationship, between Zuana the infirmary sister and the abbess who is not all she appears.  It is a  really good read which draws you into the setting with admiration for those who chose it willingly, and horror for those who never had that choice.   I read a little each night with this novel and I’m  glad I did not rush through it, it gave me a chance to think about the freedom many of us get to enjoy in this modern age. While not all women across the world  are so fortunate and for some little has changed.

Next I read The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, I was really pleased to order this one from the library as I had it on my Amazon wish list.  Books tend to stay there while I make up my mind.  Now again this is a historical story but his time in the form of a fairy tale for grown ups, or at least that is how I would describe it.  Set in Russia, there is lots of folklore and magic but the characters are wonderfully believable and I was completely lost in this tale.  The main character Vasya is once more strong and capable in a time when this was not  favoured trait in women.

I did not choose these two books expecting a similar theme to run through them it just happened that way. 

After that I read How to get things done by Richard Templar, this book felt a bit of a cheat, 200  pages with every other one being a title or heading page so realistically a one hundred page book!  I read this in one sitting and of course most of it is just common sense, make lists, delegate, don't do unnecessary tasks  and  just get on with stuff.  So nothing ground breaking there but I would have been annoyed had I paid for this book, given that it was so short and misleading.  I mean if you ordered that online you would expect 200 pages and not 100 of them to be space filling fluff. 

My current read is How to Stop Time by Matt Haig and I am off to finish that now. 

Takara Blouse with Pink Flamingos

A few weeks ago I spotted a bundle of sewing world magazine on ebay for a couple of pounds, I bid on them and won, I thought they would be fun to look through while I was off work for the summer and may provide some inspiration. Plus what a bargain price, it is a collection of six magazines and yesterday I had a go at a blouse from the January 2017 issue.  This was ideal as I spotted some pink flamingo fabric while out on Saturday and just couldn't resist it.

I had just enough fabric to make the blouse in my size with one metre but the instructions state one and a half so it will depend on sizing. Initially I was a bit concerned about the neck detail because I thought it may just look like a mistake as the centre pleat is not straight (this is the asymmetrical style of it) but as my fabric is a polycotton and quite flowy it is not that obvious and the detailing is nice.

On the pattern it also states to put a hook and eye at the top centre back, I chose to opt for a button and loop as I had thin black ribbon and a selection of pink buttons to hand.  I feel this is more of a feature at the back neck rather than it needing to be there for functionality as you can easily get the top on without unfastening it.

The sizing on this pattern was pretty good although I did run the sides in a little but that is probably personal choice, even after doing that it is still roomy enough to be comfy and I will use this pattern again now that I've tried it.  At first I though what if I cut into this lovely new fabric and this weird neck thing doesn't work? Then I thought the feature was high enough up that if I didn't like it I could have worked it into something else so I carried on.

What I would say though is that I found the facings a little deep and when it was all finished the facing did appear to be pulling up on the inside like it was too small, I figured it may be the depth of it so I just trimmed it down, refinished it and then it hung flat.  After under stitching the facing I also added some very fine invisible stitching to the top on the inside to ensure the facing stays, this is not necessary but it just reassures me everything stays put

I was going to make the sleeves shorter but once they were done I actually like them this length, because they are loose they are comfy and also there is enough room that if a jacket pushes them up they won't feel tight on the upper arm. That is one of the things that usually bugs me about three quarter or elbow length sleeves.

Here is the blouse in the magazine, as you can see they have used a slightly heavier fabric so the neck detain is more prominent.

I look forward to seeing what else I can make from these magazines, as they are usually quite expensive they are not something I buy often so this little bargain bundle was a treat.  Has anyone else been looking through old magazines or books for inspiration this summer?  If so I would love to hear what you have discovered or revisited.

Today we have been out for a walk to a new place, not that far in the car and I only heard about it through a link form a friend on facebook.  So many lovely places close by that go undiscovered.  This place is a park called Glen Howe park, there is a little link here.

The dogs had a great time sniffing around somewhere new.

I love pictures through trees.

 A bit of paddling (not me)

So that is another place we can take them when we feel like a change, I'm sure we will discover some more walks that are not too far away.  It just goes to show you don't have to visit another town or country to see something new.