We Have Twins

 

You remember I showed you our house martins nest?

 Well there was ever so much chattering going on that we decided to watch the nest  to see if we could get any  photo's of the parents.

 

 

 

They made trip after trip to the cemetery and come back with  mouths full of food for  baby martin,

 

 

 

then, mammy flew off,

 

 

 

and two babies popped their heads out of the nest,,,,

 

 

 

We have twins!!!

 

Ahhhh bless them....

 

Lucey xx 



House Martins

 

Hello....

 

I'm enjoying these long sunny days and bright blue skies, it's proper "get out and do things" weather isn't it, a  couple of weeks ago our Town was hosting a vintage fair so  we pedalled down on our bikes for a look round.

 

 

It was lovely to see some of the sellers dressed up and everywhere was decked out in bunting

 

 

all the wooden huts were set around the church in the square and these gorgeous girls were singing

 

"what shall we do with a drunken sailor"

 

 

 

 anyone who happened to pass them with a bald head got a polishing with their great yellow dusters!!

 

There was a fabulous 1950's ice cream van selling ices and lots of vintage cars on display (sorry no photos) and a stall selling homemade lemonade and strawberries and cream and  rugs on the grass to sit on.

 

Last weekend we had a ride to Corbridge and found a lovely shop called RE...recycle, reuse etc.

 

 

 

it was one of those shops filled with a bit of everything and well worth a visit in fact I didn't want to leave as there was so much to see,

 

 

a lady in the village hand sews these gorgeous cushions made from blankets.

 

 

Opposite was an antique shop with lovely garden things displayed outside,

 

 

 

love this bench and the buddleia was full of butterflies,

 

 

 

we passed some cute houses on the way to the tea shop, this one just needs some roses growing round the door and it would be the perfect country cottage...

 

 

  

 

Out in the garden our  hostas have done really well this year with not a slug in sight,

 

 

 

  and we have a family of house martins built a nest under the eaves, you can hear the little ones chirping away as  mum and dad flying to and fro with food for them.

 

 

 It was amazing to watch them build the nest it started off a clump of mud on the wall and within a couple of days and hundreds of trips later there it was "home sweet home"

 

Lucey xx

 

 



Sandcastles

 

 

Hello

 

It's been a while but I'm back again with some more ramblings from the Lucey household....

 

 

 

 Sandcastles  on the beach from our holiday in the sun,

 

 

 

it's amazing what you can do with a bucket of damp sand,

 

 

 

and a lot of patience and imagination. 

 

We had a lovely time mainly laying in the sun with the occasional walk along the beach and a trip to the local market, well it wouldn't be a holiday without a mooch around a market would it?

 

 

 

Back home it was lovely to see the lavender was out with lots of bees buzzing around but some of our bedding plants in pots had died with the heat so I've re potted them with some fuscia plants I got from Morrisons for £2....what a bargain!

 

 

And this was the greeting we got from our grandson, he'd fallen off his scooter and went for an x ray where they said his knee was ok only to be recalled 3 days later saying his knee cap was fractured....aw bless him right at the start of the school holidays!!

 

Love Lucey xx

 



A Baby Boy

 

Awww a baby boy for Kate and William,

 

 congratulations......

 

 Back soon with some sandcastle pictures!!

 

Lucey xx

 

 

 



Jessie Chorley Workshop

Hello.....

I've been away from blogland for longer than planned what with all the decorating, you know how you do one room then another then the staircase needed doing, new carpets laid .....but more of that to follow.

First let me tell you about last weekend spent with the lovely Jessie Chorley at Hope and Elvis studio.

"Once upon a time" we all arrived at Hope and Elvis studio to meet the lovely Jessie Chorley, who  showed us her beautiful work that had such detail in every piece and talked about different stitches and her inspiration and ideas.

Jessie must have spent hours and hours on these pieces that she then had printed and made into cards,

each one is embellished with buttons, found objects and carefully chosen words,

this is my favourite piece with the big old pram and umbrella it reminds me of Mary Poppins!

All Jessie's work was displayed in old boxes and suitcases

for a real old fashioned nostalgic look,

there were also some beautifully stitched wool cushions, postcards, sewing booklets and lots of brooches to tempt and inspire us

along with lovely linen to create our own work on.

After a cup of tea  and a slice of chocolate cake we gathered our fabrics and cottons and spent the day stitching and creating our own pieces, everyone making something different,

this is the piece I stitched I was going to frame it but then I thought I'd like to make  some more and maybe stitch  them into a book,
"a quaint little cottage down a country lane"

and I've also started a cushion, still a wip.

One of jessie's gorgeous little heart brooches just had to come home with me.....

"once upon a time"

isn't that how all the best stories start!!

Back soon.......

Love Lucey xx

A Bit Of Cath Kidston

"Inspiration for decorating"

It all started when I ordered a bookcase for the snug, I thought, this room could do with decorating  it's still the bog standard magnolia that the builder's painted it,

and it needs "prettying" up a bit! 

I thought we could paint the walls white and paper the main wall in Cath's  "Antique Rose" wallpaper,

so  off we went to York to get the paper when I saw that they had bedding to match,  that would be nice for the bedroom  as both rooms are next to each other.

I didn't want white walls in there  so I got  some paint samples and I was drawn to the different shades  blue,

this is the one I like,

and in the meantime at a vintage fair I saw this lovely old  sign

 a gorgeous pink feather eiderdown which I snapped up immediately,

a bargain at £15,

and a length of bunting that has been cut from the lace on an old tablecloth,

I wish I'd got two now as I could have put one in each room.

The bedroom is magnolia with plum coloured bedding and pictures so it will be nice to have some colour in there,

this is as it is now

the en suite is through the door on the right, we've added coving and painted the walls white and it already had the  pearly mosaic tiles in there.

I can see us being busy this weekend!!

Lucey xx

Julie Arkell

"TIC-TOC"

It's Julie Arkell time, guaranteed correct time twice a day!

While we were waiting for Julie to arrive at the studio, we rooted through Louise's stash of fabrics,

 bought vintage goodies from the well stocked shop,

 and got to know one another whilst drinking tea.

We were all excited and one of the girls's said "when Julie arrives do we curtsy" haha.

Julie put up all her display's to give us inspiration and idea's for the day's makes.

"Finding the words"

little houses,

lambs,

clocks and watches,

 and bunches of wild flowers,

beautifully displayed on old shirt's and jumper's.

We were all a bit giddy to be doing any sewing, but sew we did  and I decided to make a bunch of the "wild flowers"

these are what I've started on but still haven't finished, we've been off work this week and have been on days out here, there and everywhere, so no time to sew.

A few flowers,

a watch and a rabbit house, still lots of sewing and ideas to carry on with.

Louise and Miss Debs made us a lunch to be proud of and we all nattered the afternoon away but  all too soon it was time to say our goodbyes, I chose a couple of thing's to come home with me.

One of Julie's "tic toc" watches now resides on my arm, set at 20 past twelve, just in time for lunch, 

and "tender" or Miss Rosie, is now nestled, snugly on my jumper.

Thank you Louise, Miss Deb's and Julie and all the lovely girl's that I met, for a truly wonderful day,

can't wait for next year!!

Lucey X