A jolly nice day

Yesterday I went over to Maggies (of Sunflower Fabrics fame) for a sew and chatter day with a fabulous homecooked lunch to boot.

Mungo the cat wandering down the garden to be nosey and see what we are up to in the cabin.

This is what Ruth was up to, the beginnings of a quilt.

Ann was busy with some handquilting, white on white so simple yet it is going to look lovely when she has finished it.

Maggie was busy playing with some Liberty fabrics teamed with recycled cotton shirt fabrics, delicious colours and a few little Liberty fabric covered buttons which I made and have now got plans to make a lot more!

And whilst everyone was busy with beautiful fabrics, I was painting pegs!

A whole little army of dolly pegs in their finery, lined up and drying nicely on the shelf!

Right, back to it now, plenty to do ready for the weekend

Take care all, til tomorrow xx

Weekend preparations

Oh my word, look at this - two blog posts in two days!  This could be habit forming, lets hope!

I am busy getting ready for this bank holiday weekend which is going to be rather full on!  For the three days I am going to be at Wrest Park in Silsoe, Bedfordshire with many other crafters and artists.  I have not done this show before but I have only heard good reports about it from other traders and visitors alike.  Plus the fact that Romor Exhibitions who organise us all are such a lovely family company I feel pretty sure that it will be a lovely weekend for all of us.

And then if that wasn't enough I am also going to be at the Gransden Air Show which is held in a village just a little way away from us here.  It is to raise funds for Children in Need and for the two years that I have been there before it has been a great day out, for me that is, although I do assume that is is just as good for the customers too!

Clearly I can't be in both places at the same time so my Saturday lad (hubby!) will be taking up the reigns at Wrest Park on the Sunday whilst I am watching the aeroplanes.

In the meantime, I decided that it was about time that I finished off this chair that has been in various stages of completion for the past year or so!

Don't look too closely, it is for display only, I am not a master upholsterer by any stretch of the imagination and have not quite got the colours right but it was a good effort whilst using up the remnants and some spare paint!

I am pleased with how it looks and it will be just right for displaying cushions and quilts and maybe I will even rest a while on it at some point over the weekend!

Righto, must get back to work folks. 

Take care all

Sarah xx

Pay it Forward

Back in March I volunteered to be a part of a Pay it Forward with Sue at Our New Life in the Coutry.

What a lovely surprise it was on Saturday when I came home from a rather windy Welwyn Market to find a parcel waiting for me.

Well, it smelt lovely before I'd even got around to opening it.

Inside I found a little bear and some lavender scented drawer sachets

A lovely handmade heart filled with lavender

A handmade card with fabric and buttons (Sue you have chosen well!) and some fabulous handmade soap.

And the perfect addition for a relaxing night in - bath soak!

Thank you so much Sue for all my goodies, such a lovely collection, the heart is already hanging from my bed and it looks and smells lovely as I drift off to sleep. 

Now, in order for me to Pay if Forward, I need 3 volunteers, just leave me a comment saying you would like to take part.  If more than 3 people come forward then I'll pick names from a hat, then I'll get a little parcel of goodies together for you each.  All you have to do then is to pay it forward to another 3 people once you have recieved your parcel.

You don't have to be a blogger to take part, nor do you have to make your own gifts.  Click here to see the post from Sue's blog and you should be able to track back the PIF through other blogs too!

Sue's parcel certainly brightened my day, I look forward to sending a parcel of cheer to some of you too.

Take care all, til the next time,

Sarah x

That was then....

It has been a while between blog posts again.  No reason in particular other than I have just been feeling rather lacklustre recently and I've not had anything interesting to say to myself never mind going to the trouble of writing these nothing interesting goings on down!

Hopefuly my mojo is on it's way back, well even if it isn't planning on coming back of it's own accord, I intend to hold onto the little bit I do have at present and haul it back in to being present here everyday!

I was going to share these pics with you last week, so even though it is older news now, it is still all new to me as I have only just had a look through the photos.

These were taken at Scald End Farm near Thurleigh here in Bedfordshire.  It was their annual Help for Heroes Food and Craft Fair, a good old fashioned country fair in a beautiful setting and a very British feel about the day.

My first customer!

OK so he was primarily after my lunch but all the same he was the first one to my stall!

This has to be the best spot I have had for a stall, I spent as long chatting to the furry ones over the fence as I did with the customers over the stock!

The Beer Barn!

Watching wool being spun is quite entrancing, this lady was using wool that was different shades so that as it was spun you could see the fibres taking shape.

The softest silk, beautifully dyed.

This stall was delightful, so colourful and inspiring, I just wanted to plant the entire stall in my garden!

As they don't have a website, here is the information for those of you who may be local enough to pay them a visit in person if you are after any plants and gardening advice!

A little wildlife garden

A pretty little oasis for pretty bugs.

Back to my companions for the day, taking a breather.

Just horsing around in the sunshine!

Right now it is back to the sewing machine, got a few hearts to sew amongst other things.

Take care all, til next time

Sarah x

These things take time

What things?

Well at the moment it seems like everything!

Not least getting my pictures up online and blog posts written.

So here we are going back in time to Saturday.  Welwyn market.  Bit of a changeable day weather wise, unfortunately it changed for the worst in the middle of the day with a few good downpours, which whilst they are great for the garden were not a lot of help to us folk trying to sell our wares out in the elements!

So what is a girl to do - console yourself with a little sustinence from your market neighbour of course:

So much choice and each and every one of these delightful little treats has a different flavour of cake and icing, what a dilema!

So here we have the before and after shots of my choice - well a nearly before shot - I had already started tucking in when I thought to take it's picture!  Chocolate and coffee and baileys...........

.....and nought but crumbs left.

Thanks Kevin!  But it's not just cupcakes over at Mama's the sweetest fudge too, but I'll save that for next time as my 3pm treat!

Roz and Rachael from Roch Furniture were there too and I just had to take some pictures of their wonderful furniture.

This is how I'd like all my furniture to look.  In fact there isn't a week that I could not find a home for all the pieces that Roz and Rachael bring to market.

This bench is just crying out to be next to my dining room table and I have mentally filled up those chest of drawers already!

Right, now, I must go and get on with a few bits and pieces.  I'm back to Land Cuckoo this week as the temping assignment has finished for now, just going to catch up on things here at the bottom of the garden and then maybe I'll be heading back to an office somewhere out there!

Take care all, til tomorrow (hopfully I'll get back to computer then!)

Sarah xx

I'm a lucky blogger

Yesterday I arrived home from work to find a little parcel on the door mat.  No, it wasn't anything the cat had left me, it was a parcel from Sal over at Sal's Snippets

All tied up in a cheery bright ribbon.

A beautifully scented lavender sachet

a delightful piece of embroidery

and a pretty card, of which I have only succeeded in photographing the corner!

Thank you very much Sal, the lavender parcel is going straight to bed - so it can scent the room for sweet dreams!

Take care all

Sarah x