Summer by the sea

Back in the Crochet Saddle!

2010-11-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

I have realised recently that I don't seem to have been devoting too much time to me recently. By 'me' I mean spending the time doing the things I love - mainly reading, crafting and running.
So I have made a conscious decision to try and fit more of this into my life and started by doing a bit of crochet. For those of you that have read my blog before, you will know that I taught myself to crochet a couple of years ago, but so far I have limited myself to cushions and granny squares, so it was a pleasure to have a go at making something from a pattern, and here's what I came up with

It was really nice to make something that will be very useful at this time of year too (plus it matches her coat!)
I got the pattern from this book, and to say it is the first time I have followed a pattern, I found it really easy to follow!

The snow continues to fall here, and only 25 days to Christmas - lots to look forward to!

I'm Back!

2010-05-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

Well, Its been a while since I blogged, 4 months to be more precise - Where is this year going? it seems to be flying by at a rate of knots. There have been many reasons for my prolonged absence - work and settling back into a routine at Doncaster have been mainly to blame, but also, for a while, I think I lost my sense of 'self' - All of a sudden 'Summer By The Sea' didn't seem so apt and I almost felt like I had nothing left to blog about. But then I realized that whilst my location may have changed, I hadn't and I still do all the things I did before, only a little more inland, so while my posts may still be sporadic, I will try to post regularly as I do miss all your comments and friendship!
I won't bore you with the day job, but I have been very busy setting up my new Ebay shop 'Pretty*Lifestyles'

Here I will be selling a variety of Shabby Chic, French Style items all of which must firstly be 'pretty' enough to grace my site!

Since the site is very new, I really need to get some feedback behind me, so for a short time, anyone who buys from my shop will receive a free gift as a thank you for helping me to build my feedback - How can you resist?

You can find my shop here
We have also been very busy with our other business 'Georgia Bo Interiors' - we are planning an overhaul of the website soon - updating it with some new colours, photos and fabrics - we stock a lot of made to measure curtains that are available from Next and M&S and seem to be doing quite well off the back of that - Our curtains are made in exactly the same place as theirs are, to the same high quality only ours are more competitively priced.
Last week saw my little girl turn 4 - I can't believe how quickly the last 4 years have gone by - she starts school in September - already! - it feels far too soon although she is more than ready.

She was very pleased with her 'Rock Star' guitar!
Finally, my hubbie has also been busy building a course, bringing together his 20+ years of experience, the next 'Success Mentor' course will run in June, so If you know anyone who would benefit from a little direction in their lives or help to succeed and make the most of their life - point them in Tim's direction - you can find out more about Success Mentor here
Anyway, thats enough for today - But I promise I will be back soon
Natalie x

Welcome 2010

2010-01-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

Well, its been a while I have to say and after much bullying (in a nice way of course) by my sister Tracy @ Sewn Up - I decided it was about time I posted again.
We had a very lovely Christmas and the New Year saw both my hubby and me celebrating our birthdays - For once, we had a joint party which was great fun!
I'm afraid there has not been any crafting to speak of lately, I have just been too busy with other things, children, the house, and settling back into a new routine in Doncaster. - But I am getting that crafty itch I need to scratch soon though, so watch this space!
One thing I have done recently is become a trader for Phoenix cards. If you have not heard of them, they sell beautiful greetings cards, gift wrap and stationery at only £1 each.

It was a perfect way for me to make new friends and meet new people, especially with all 3 of my children starting new schools, and I also held a 'card party' for friends and neighbours as a good way to re-integrate myself back with my neighbours.
If anyone is interested in receiving a catalogue, please just e-mail me at nlhowlett@btinternet.com and I will be very happy to pop you one in the post.
So what will my first crafty project of 2010 be? Well, I fancy making a door stop for my hallway and also have an idea for something I want to make for my little girl, just need to get my backside in gear!
Happy New Year to you all xxx

Race Results and a Tour round my new home

2009-10-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

I did it (The Great North Run that is!) I have purposely waited before writing this post, hoping that I could add one of the official photos from the race, as there are photographers all around the course - but hence - No! - There is not a single photo of me to prove I was even there, all I can assume is that I was so fast that all the cameras could capture was a passing blur!
Neither did my poor long suffering hubby Tim manage to get any evidence, after dropping me off in Newcastle Town Centre at 9.15am, he drove to South Shields (the finishing line) as suggested by the race organisers, but didn't get there till 1.30pm - some 10 minutes or so after I had finished - makes me think it would have been quicker to run!!!
Anyway, I know you are all dying to know - well, I got round in 2hrs 25 minutes, I must say I'm a little disappointed, but it was very warm and due to the numbers taking part, it was pretty congested in parts and hard to run at a constant pace (enough of the excuses now!)
I thought you would like a little look round my (new) home, I say it like that, because we have lived here before, but it has been rented out for the past 3 years. It has needed lots of cleaning, decorating and TLC, but the lounge is almost finished

Just need to get some curtains and cushions make up in a lovely duck egg crushed velvet I sell in my shop and we will be done (Oh, and I need to hide those wires poking out from under the sideboard - visible wires is a pet hate!

The bedroom is on its way too - I would like a white leather buttoned headboard and am saving up for some of that mirrored furniture that is everywhere at the moment.
So, I am settling back in very well - I said to hubby yesterday that I feel like I have got some of the old me back, as nice as Filey was, being close to the sea and all that, it wasn't for me and didn't allow me to be myself. I have actually only driven twice in the past 3 years, because there wasn't really much need, but for that same reason I felt a bit too closed in. Tim has been away this week and has left me the car, so its been quite nice, getting used to driving again and feeling like the old me! - Anyway enough of the mad ramble and a big thanks again to those who sponsored me and supported the charity "Beating Bowel Cancer" I have raised almost £300 so far, but I'm still collecting, so If you would like to donate a pound or two, the link is in my sidebar - Bye for now
Natalie x

Long Time, No See!

2009-09-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well, What a hectic Summer it has been, I don't know quite where to start.
I suppose first came my sisters wedding on the lovely island of Zante, very Mamma Mia and very Hot! - 35 degrees most days.

Here is a pic of my lovely sister Mel and her new Hubby Dean - Don't they look great?
Secondly is the news that I'm not so much 'Summer By The Sea' anymore, more 'Summer slap bang in the middle of the country' - but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it? - We moved back to our home town of Doncaster a couple of weeks ago, just in time for the boys to start the new term at their new schools, so the past 2 weeks has been a flurry of unpacking, Decorating and getting straight.
This sunday sees me taking part in the Great North Run, I am quite nervous but really looking forward to it. I am running in aid of 'Beating Bowel Cancer' a fantastic charity which aims to beat this horrible disease, but which relies on charitable donations to keep it going. I am falling well short of the total sponsorship I need to raise, so PLEASE, PLEASE SPONSOR ME IF YOU CAN - EVEN IF IT IS ONLY A POUND OR TWO, IT REALLY WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE - The link to my just Giving Page is in my sidebar. A big thanks to one very special blogging friend, you know who you are for your kind donation.
Anyway, nearly enough from me - I'll be back soon, now things have settled down a bit with some pics of my new home and what we've all been up to, but in the meantime, if any of you are on facebook, would you be so kind to visit my facebook page and 'become a fan' of Georgia Bo Interiors

Keeping Shop

2009-06-18T09:04:00.001-07:00

As you will no doubt know by now, I run a little shop in Filey called 'Georgia Bo Interiors' named after my 3 year old daughter (Don't you know all the best shops have girls names - just think 'Laura Ashley!') anyway speaking of Laura Ashley, we have just had a beautiful new range of fabrics into the shop all in the Laura Ashley style, lots of really beautiful linen mix fabrics and subtle florals, checks and ticking stripes. I re-did the shop window yesterday, using some of these fabrics, but you can't see them very clearly on the photo so you'll have to take my word for it!
Business definitely seems to have picked up with quite a pace this last week or so, I'm not going to jump the gun and predict that the economic tide is turning, but for small business owners like myself, it's definitely a good sign.

The pincushions and hearts continue to be a good seller, the five I showed you on the post before last were all snapped up, so last night saw me sitting down to polish off another 10 - these ones have a crochet flower in the centre.

And here they are in the window!
We are off back to South Yorkshire this weekend - Dad's to visit and all that - we are all looking forward to a relaxing weekend, we have a BBQ planned for Sunday which we will spend at my Mum and Dads with the in-laws there too, so lets keep our fingers crossed for warm weather!
Have a good weekend everyone - Natalie x

Cushiony Crochet!

2009-06-15T12:01:00.001-07:00

Well, I have been busy again with these round crocheted cushions - there is something so theraputic about going round in circles and the flowers and frill are a satisfying way to finish it off - however there are only so many of these pretty cushions one can adorn ones house with - so these two are for sale - £15 each plus £2 p&p - If you would like one, please e-mail me and I will send you a paypal invoice. I am also happy to make these to order in any colours of your choice

The pink one is a paler pink on top and a darker strawberry pink underneath - it has a cream frill
PINK ONE NOW SOLD

The blue one is a pale blue on top and cream underneath with a cream frill
Hope you like these as much as I do
Natalie x

Keeping Busy and Pretty Things

2009-06-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

Well, its taken a while but I think my mojo is coming back! - Thank you to all who left kind messages after my last post, its nice to know that so many people care. Anyway - anyone else wish the sun would come back? - that will be all of us then! - No sooner had I got used to wearing my white linen trousers, I have had to put them back in my wardbrobe in favour of warmer gear - Oh to live in England, and our great British 'summer time'
I have been busy as you can see, making another batch of pincushions which I sell in my shop, I have also been doing a lot of crochet too, but I will save that for another post.

I also made a little purchase this week from the Charity Shop (well, I use the word 'I' loosly, in actual fact what happened was I sent darling Hubby into the charity shop to make aforementioned purchase for me!) - You can't see on the photo very well, but the dress is a really vibrant emerald green and white print with a lovely cerise sash. It cost just £4 and is 100% silk - Bargain!

Next is this lovely Aynsley posy ornament which mum found when she was sorting out my Grandmas things, and she knew I would like it, and also this lovely china posy brooch, also a gift from my mum

Finally, I know so many of you are a fan of hand embroidery, so I thought I would show you this gorgeous bolster cushion which my mum made for me a month or two ago, she has even embroidered a lovely personal message on the reverse. Isn't it pretty? It sits on my bed at the moment and I get pleasure every time I look at it.

Well, that's about it from me for the time being, the training for the half marathon is still going well and I am running about 5 miles at a time now roughly 3 or 4 times a week, I can feel myself getting fitter and that is motivating me to keep on, even though sometimes when I get in from work, running 5 miles is the last thing I want to do!
See you all again soon, and in the meantime cross your fingers for some sunshine!

Sorry its been so long......

2009-05-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

But its been with good reason. Sadly in the first week of May, my lovely Gran passed away suddenly. It was (and still is) a great shock to us all as she was so full of life and active for her 92 years - she was due to go on holiday just a couple of days after she passed away.
I will miss her so much, although we lived 100 miles apart, I was lucky enough to see her just a couple of weeks before she died, I will cherish the memories of that day, she was so happy, sitting in my Mum and Dads conservatory watching two of her Great-Grandchildren play. I am thinking of all the happy times and that is what has seen me through and bought a smile to my face even though I am sad. Unfortuntely this all happened very close to Georgia's 3rd Birthday, so the 'Pirates and Princess's' party we had planned had to be postponed, but we are planning to have another party later on in the summer.

Moving on, I needed something to focus on, and I am ready for a challenge so on September 20th 2009 I shall be taking part in the Great North Run in aid of 'Beating Bowel Cancer' This is a half marathon (13.1 miles!) in which over 50,000 people take part. If you would like to sponsor me, I would be very grateful - please send me an e mail and I will contact you with my details.
So off I was this morning in the drizzle running along the sea-front against the wind wondering if maybe I had bitten off more than I can chew?- Hmm - I'll let you know on that one!
I have kept up to date with all your blogs and even though I haven't been leaving comments, you have continued to put a smile on my face. My mojo is now on its way back, so I will post again soon
Natalie x
Added 1/6/09 - You can now sponsor me by clicking on the link in my sidebar - thanks so much!

Springtime

2009-04-06T08:41:00.001-07:00

I just love Springtime - its there on my sidebar as one of my favourite things, and I think I love Easter almost as much as Christmas. Perhaps its the prospect of not one, but two bank holidays, or maybe its when we start looking forward to warmer weather and lighter evenings - but whatever it is, this time of year is flippin fantastic!
If you cross over the road from my house and go down the road for about a minute you come to this lovely path, known as 'Martins Ravine'......

which leads directly to this......

Sunday was gorgeous here, usually there is quite a bit of a breeze on the beach but it was sunny and dare I say it? - almost warm!
There was plenty of sandcastle making to be done and plenty of this too....

So now I have 8 glorious days off work - there is so much I want to do, Projects I want to crack on with and places I want to visit. I started as soon as I came in from work today by arranging this little easter display in our hallway. I am quite pleased with it, but think I will add a pretty potted primula and a basket of mini eggs (bet they won't last long!)

There has also been a little more crochet done too....

I can't wait!
Natalie x
P.S - Thank you to everyone for your kind comments on Callum's birthday, he read them all and we were all touched by your kind words and well wishes, you are such a friendly bunch and I feel lucky to have your friendship

Happy Birthday Callum!

2009-04-01T13:20:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is my lovely Callum's 11th Birthday - wow! where have the last 11 years gone? it seems like only yesterday that I was cradling my firstborn and now I am getting ready to pack him off to 'big school' later this year. Wouldn't it be nice to step back in time just for a day to re-live those days?
Callum - you are growing into such a special young man, who never fails to make us proud - we always know that when we go to your parent evenings that the teachers will have nothing but praise for you, we are sure you will go far and we thank you for being no trouble to us (yet!) - long may that continue! I love how you always have a kiss for me when I leave for work and again when I get home, and although your now too old to hold hands with me in public (embarrassing) I know you would do anything to make us happy. Thank you for being a wonderful son and for always doing your best
Love you lots - Mum and Dad x x x x x

I love Hearts!

2009-03-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

There has been a distinct heart theme round here lately, firstly I have been very busy making these little hearts which I sell in my shop. Although we are primarily a curtain and blind shop, being by the coast, there are naturally a lot of tourists, especially in the Summertime. Whilst we don't have much to offer visitors in the way of souvenirs, I do like to make up a few bits which sell really well in the holiday season.

Secondly there has been the heart swap, and my swap partner was Gemma from Deravelled - I received some lovely goodies including some lovely cards which Gemma had made and some charms and stickers so I can make some of my own - there was also some lovely smelling soap slices and the pretty black and white handmade heart you can see in the picture,

Thank you Gemma - I love everything!
I have a busy week ahead, It is my eldest son's birthday on Thursday (he will be 11) and it is also my last full week at work before I have some nice time off around Easter - I have lots I want to do, things to make, books I want to read and places I want to go - I love Easter time and can't wait
Natalie x

Mothers Day

2009-03-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely weekend and in particular a lovely Sunday, which was Mothering Sunday here in the UK. Some lovely choccies (which were gone before lunchtime) - and later a trip into York, where I was treat to a pair of lovely Cath Kidston pillowcases. I had got my eye on the CK 'pins' & 'buttons' tins and the boys raced into the shop clutching their saved up pocket money, but they had sold out! - Oh well, it will just be another excuse to return!
Later on in the afternoon we went to Frankie & Bennys which is one of our favourite places to eat out as a family - & I even treat myself to the chocolate orange profriteroles for afters! - Yes it was a lovely weekend and I was spoilt rotten. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend whether you are a mummy, or an Aunty or a Grandma.
I have been busy making things to sell in my shop and of course busy doing more crochet - but more about that later in the week
Take care everyone!
P.S - As you can see, the children had a good time too, although none of them would co-operate for the photo - probably because they knew it would end up on here!!

Pretty things

2009-03-17T09:17:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to show you this delightful tin I picked up this week at a lovely little shop in Scarborough. Thankfully we don't have much call for first aid supplies in this house, but I daresay that might change when the weather warms up and the little ones get out and about on their bikes a bit more! - I think it will look lovely on my kitchen shelf to hold my collection of barbie plasters, cotton wool and TCP!

Secondly, here is a photo of the goodies ready to send off to Gemma of Deravelled for the heart swap organised by mollycupcakes - Goodness knows how I have managed to be so organised, that I have them wrapped and ready to send a week early! - I even found another use for one of my crocheted flowers, can you see it there adorning the gift tag? - I am enjoying this week, it has been very busy with work, the shop, parents evenings and all the usual housey stuff but the lovely Spring weather has put a Spring in my step! - Hope you are all enjoying your week - Natalie x

Loving to crochet

2009-03-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

I am just loving crochet at the moment, and inspired by similar cushions made by Julia and Jane I decided to make one of my own, and I am just loving it! - It is so nice to start a project and see it through to completion, especially since I have recently taught myself to crochet and six months ago, didn't even know how to hold a hook!
In the background is the granny blanket I started in the summer, and I am hoping this photo will guilt trip me into sorting it out - typical of me, I thought I could take short cuts and didn't bother to block the pieces, but now I have decided I must take apart the pieces I have stitched together so far, block them and then crochet them together.
Here is proof that I blocked my circular cushion

It really does give a better finished result and I am now planning on making some more of these cushions to display (and hopefully sell) in my next shop window display which will be in shades of dusky pink and mink.
Almost forgot there about my one year giveaway - I put the names in a hat (well, actually a bowl) and the name the little hand pulled out was English Teacup, so congratulations and hopefully I will get a little parcel of goodies off to you in the next couple of weeks.
Next on the 'to do' list is working on the heart swap, I have been paired with Gemma and I can't wait to see what heart shaped lovlies she sends me - I love receiving things in the post! - Anyway hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and enjoying the mild spring weather
Natalie x

What a tosser!

2009-02-24T10:34:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the title - couldn't resist! Happy Pancake Day everyone - this is of course my lovely hubby Tim, tossing our pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, the pancake is actually out of shot, somewhere between the pan and the ceiling (hopefully not on the ceiling!)

It is also my one year blogiversary tomorrow - where has the last year gone to? To celebrate I will be doing a little giveaway, which I will draw in a week or so's time. A pretty little package of goodies will wing its way to the lucky winner! - It would be lovely to hear from you all, so come on, even if you're usually just a lurker, let yourself be known - you never know you might be the lucky winner. To add to the fun, simply tell me something you could not live without (and you are not allowed to include family or friends!)
Be back next week with the results!

Sunday: Fun with yarn

2009-02-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, with a few hours to relax and do as I please, I felt like I wanted to make something, It has been a while since I knitted or crocheted anything and I decided to do a bit of both. I had seen the tutorial over on Lucy's blog and thought I would have a go, and without really knowing how, I managed to create these cute little flowers. Lucy's instructions are so well written and the photos so clear, that I honestly think anyone could make them - so thank you Lucy!
Although the flowers are very pretty, I don't yet know what will become of them, but it did give me the idea that I would like them to adorn an item of clothing, and so in a few hours I knocked up this hat for Georgia, It has a deep rib which tuns up and the rest of the hat is knitted in double moss stitch. I added two of these little flowers in the same colour as the hat, this time with a button in the centre. It was a very satisfying project combining both knitting and crochet, not bad to say 6 months ago I didn't even know how to hold a crochet hook!

I have a feeling that these little flowers are going to be turning up everywhere from now on!

The little things that make me happy!

2009-02-12T11:55:00.000-08:00

A lovely roaring fire when its snowing outside

A cheery vase of daffodils giving a glimpse of the Spring to come

A Little treat to myself - my new Cath Kidston travel purse

Lovely new catalogues to browse.

Sorry I've not been around much lately but there have been some major changes here in the Summer by the Sea household. Just after christmas I was offered a job interview out of the blue, a job related to the kind of work I used to do ages ago had come up and they thought of me - After much deliberation I decided to take the job although it would mean big changes, it is a good salary and with things as they are in the retail industry, I thought it couldn't hurt to have some of our eggs in a different basket. I am only 3 weeks in, but things are going ok so far - I am quite tired as I am still working 2 days in the shop, so Sundays are to be cherished, and hubby has had to adapt as well, now doing most of the childcare whilst trying to run the shop on his own for the 4 days I am at work. It has also meant some other changes as well, once a self confessed train virgin, I now find myself hopping on 08.11 train every morning with confidence. Evenings so far have been a blur of household jobs before falling into bed around 11pm exhausted but hopefully as the weeks go on, our new routine will start to become easier.

We have added a blog feature to our website now and seem to be moving up the google rankings, we have had quite a few orders and as soon as we find the time we have a pile of about 50 more fabrics to upload to the site.

Finally it is coming up to my one year blogiversary (on the 25th Feb) so I may do something special then, maybe a little giveaway?! Which leads me on to the Valentine swap - I am so sorry I missed out there, I typed a response to add my name to the list of participants, but it obviously never registered, and when I logged on to see who I was paired with, I wasn't there (boo hoo) I had even started making/collecting bits to pop in my parcel, so if anyone else missed out and would like to do a belated valentine swap please let me know!

Take care everyone - Natalie x

Christmas Eve in Paris

2008-12-30T06:20:00.000-08:00

The 23rd December is mine and Hubby's Wedding Anniversary (that's last Tuesday if you're anything like me and forget what day of the week it is at this time of year!) and Hubby took me out to Dinner........in Paris. If you'll just allow me a minute or two to be slushy, I'd just like to brag a bit about how wonderfully romantic my man is - He always likes to treat me for our anniversary, last year we spent a lovely couple of days in London, another year it was New York, but this year he chose Paris as we visited there on our honeymoon and loved it. He always tells me how ridiculous it was to get married so close to christmas and do I have any idea how difficult it is booking something at this time of year? (no is the answer!) But secretly we both loved our Winter Wedding and it makes the whole christmas and new Year festivities even more special. In fact we like christmas in our house - if you read my last post you will see that it was our Nathaniel's birthday on the 28th December, mine is one New Years Day and Hubby's is the Day after mine, the 2nd January so we are pretty busy anyway at this time of year.

I wasn't planning on doing much shopping in Paris (not with the current state of the Euro) in fact on arriving at St Pancras International it seemed that everyone was going in the opposite direction to us - that is, the French were all heading to Oxford Street to do their christmas shopping, seeing as they were getting much more for their money. I wanted my 24 hours is Paris to be more about soaking up the atmosphere, wandering up and down the Champs Elysees and having some nice food and wine

I had intended to go up the Eiffel Tower, having run out of time to visit there on our Honeymoon, but when we arrived the queues were so long, I decided that my time in this beautiful City was too precious to be spending it in a queue. You will have to make do with a photo looking up at it instead!

I didn't intend to do any shopping, but there was one shop on my list which I had to visit - the huge Sephora Store on the Champs Elysees. As a self confessed make up junkie, this store is my idea of heaven, I don't know why we don't have them in the UK, as a trip to their website shows that just about every other country going has a chain of Sephoras. I didn't take a photo this time, but here is a photo taken of me looking very happy with my purchases way back on our honeymoon

Although we weren't in Paris for too long, the trip didn't end when we arrived at the Gare du Nord, travelling back to York first class was a truly relaxing experience which I spent planning my next trip to Paris, and snoozing, and sipping my lovely red wine.
Thank you Tim for our lovely trip - You are a wonderful Husband who never fails to surprise me - love you lots x x x x
So one week later, and what has everyone else been up to? - After recovering from our trip, and visiting family, we now have a few lovely relaxing days at home - at the moment one son is starting a Simpsons puzzleball, the other is playing on his DS Lite, my little girl is tired out from her bike ride (don't you know how tiring it is being pushed whilst peddling backwards?!) and I am going to spend my afternoon finishing off my new Maeve Binchy Novel and catching up with all your news.
If I don't see you again before Thursday then I would like to wish you all a VERY HAPPY 2009 thank you all for your friendship, your kind comments and your generosity throughout 2008 - Natalie x

Happy Birthday Nuggs

2008-12-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

My little boy turned 9 today. How time flies! It seems like only last year, let alone 9 years ago that I spent my christmas on the edge of my seat with a baby who was too laid back to arrive on time and entered the world 10 days late and 9lb 2oz.
Nathaniel Joseph was named so, because the meaning of Nathaniel translates to 'Gods Gift' and Joseph means 'Second Son' so it seemed a perfectly fitting choice, his nickname of Nuggs came around the age of 3, due to his love of chicken Nuggets and boy has it stuck, even his teachers and school mates know him as Nuggs!
Nathaniel was the perfect baby, so laid back, he made no fuss and always had a cheeky smile on his face. I can't believe that the boy sitting on my sofa right now, looking so grown up and playing with his new ipod shuffle is that same little boy who sucked his fingers and never let pooh bear out of his sight.
Nathaniel, you are an absolute joy to your dad and me, so loving and so generous - and clever too (well done for coming top of the class in your recent maths test!) The dedication you show when you are doing something that interests you like the 5 hours you spent building Indiana Jones aeroplane out of lego is amazing - Don't ever change - we love you just how you are - Happy Birthday x x x x x x

Housey Pics

2008-12-17T08:49:00.001-08:00

See, I told you I wouldn't leave it so long!
Thought I would just share with you a few photos of my dining room - although it is downstairs (our lounge is on the first floor) I like to trim up in there, so its nice and festive for christmas dinner. I usually have a second tree in there, but since I borrowed it for the shop window this year, I am making do with this little white tree and a few decorated twigs.

The table centrepiece is from Next - I have it on the table all year round, but with a few silver pinecones and baubles thrown in, it looks kinda festive don't you think?

I think I am more or less organised for christmas now - my big food shop is being delivered on Sunday, and Im finding it really handy being able to keep 'logging on' and adding to my basket when I think of another 'essential' I've forgotten!
Hope you enjoy the pics, I'm loving looking at all your christmassy rooms

Countdown to 2009!

2008-12-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone - firstly, just a little note to say - Yes I'm still alive! - Thank you for all your kind enquiries, I did not go away altogether, but I have some serious catching up to do with all your news, which I look forward to doing next week when I will have 2 whole lovely weeks off work!
Life has been pretty hectic, in a not so good way! - Firstly I arrived at work one morning about a month ago to find that during the night half the shop ceiling had collapsed - It is all sorted now thank goodness, but it was a lot of mess and upheaval, and although we only had to close for a very short period of time, it gave some people fuel to say that we had "gone bust" which is not a nice thing to keep hearing, even if people are saying it in a joking manner. I don't know, what is it with these small towns and the gossip that people like to spread?!
Anyway, to show you all that I have not 'gone bust' (well not just yet anyway!) here is a photo I took today of our shop window, which I think looks lovely and christmassy

We are very busy this week, trying to get things fitted for christmas (poor Tim is going to need a month off work, never mind a fortnight!) and we also have a few internet orders to complete, which was very welcome in the current economic climate (but don't get me started on that!)
We have also been really busy christmas shopping like everyone else. shopping for 3 of our own children, both of our (large-ish) extended families. not to mention 3 of our birthdays and our wedding anniversary also fall over christmas! - thank goodness for the internet is what I say.
But anyway, onto the title of this post - I love New Years, I think I love the prospect of a brand new shiny new year even more than christmas. It has nothing to do with the fact that my birthday marks the start of the year (35 if you must know!) It is all to do with the lists, the goals and the brand new Diaries full of empty pages. I love starting the year by making a lovely long list of all the things I hope to achieve during the year - this years items include such things as "Knit a pair of socks" and other life changing events like that!

I like making lists full stop and I make a list every year of how many books I read too. Here is my lovely new diary which has a page for each day - big enough to make lovely lists on each page (I'm aware I'm starting to sound really anal now, I know!)
I also have a smaller handbag diary for appointments, although usually I end up carrying both around with me simultaneously. So I leave you with a piccie of a corner of my kitchen, with my Good Homes Calendar (lovely photos) and my spotty diary - Oh and you might just like the hyacinths I picked up today too.
Take care and I promise I won't leave it so long till my next post x

Weekend Ramblings

2008-10-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, just been really busy doing other things, and to be honest have been suffering a little from 'bloggers block' One of the jobs that has been occupying most of my time has been adding more fabrics to my website . As I mentioned in my last post, we will be advertising in the Ideal Home magazine, the Christmas issue of which is due out in Early November, so I wanted to have as much choice available as possible ready for then!
I love this time of year when the clocks go back and I can start organising for christmas - My hubby is quite the opposite, he hates the dark mornings and dark evenings, but it makes me feel all cosy and festive!

One thing we have done this week is hand our boxes in for the Samaritans Purse charity. We always do a couple of boxes each year and it keeps it in my childrens minds that not every child is as fortunate as them.
We went for a lovely walk the other evening along Filey Brigg. It is a great walk, which is only possible at low tide, and you have to make sure you don't hang around too long as it is possible to get cut off by the sea, there are hundreds of rock pools to explore and loads of sea birds to identify. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me but when we returned home, I saw this photo opportunity, which I thought perfectly summed up our family

Finally while wandering around the house, I decided to take a photo of this window seat in my dining room, it is a favourite place to sit, or snooze, especially in the late evening when the sun is going down.

So there you have it, a bit of a mixed bag of a post, I'll try not to leave it as long next time
Natalie x

Tumble Driers, Haircuts and Granny Squares!

2008-10-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

What a strange week it has been so far - nothing out of the ordinary has happened, but it just seems to have been a loooonnnngg week!
I have a couple of days off work now, the first in ages, I am off tomorrow to take delivery of a new tumble drier, my old one finally gave up the ghost at ten years old - probably decided it had had enough after years of being overworked! I have gone for a condenser tumble drier this time, as the siting of it is nowhere near a window, and have tried to find one as energy efficient as possible, but the best I could find has a 'C' rating.
The in-laws are also coming through tomorrow for a long weekend, so me and the hubby are taking advantage by having another night out - (the second this year - steady!) and I am having my hair cut and coloured on Saturday in preparation and am really looking forward to it.
My eldest son has joined the Filey Sea Cadets this year, which you can find out about here He is desperate to get his uniform, but I must admit to being a bit concerned when he announced after one session that he thinks he might like to join the Navy - he is only 10!

Thank you to everyone who had a look at my new website and was kind enough to leave a comment, it seems from your comments that we have achieved what we set out to do which was create a clean looking, easy to navigate website which was free from gimmicks. We will be advertising in the christmas issue of Ideal Home magazine, and each issue thereafter, so if you read Ideal Home, look out for us! I have done a little draw, and the winner was Kelly, so thank you very much Kelly (and everyone else) for taking the time to comment, and if you e mail me your address I will pop a little something in the post for you!
Finally, I can't go without letting you know about my Granny square progress, as you can see from the pictures, I have completed 29 and have another 16 which are waiting for the final two rounds of pink to be added, so that's 45 in total. I had originally intended for this to be a 56 square blanket, but I now have another plan for it, and so it may become bigger, but details of that in my next post.
Have a good weekend everyone - Natalie x

Going Live!

2008-09-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well, after months of waiting, my website is now live! - I would love it if you would take a look, and if you would tell me what you think, that would be even better! - You can find the website here, or by clicking on the link in the sidebar. We will be adding lots more fabrics over the next few weeks, and for all my blogging friends out there (or friends of friends of friends) you can receive a 10% discount on your order by entering the promotional code Summer08 at the checkout.
For everyone who is kind enough to leave some feedback, I will enter you into a little draw, I haven't decided what the prize will be yet, but it will definitely be something nice!
No photo's on this post, but I'll be back later in the week with some piccies of all the crafty things I've been up to this week.
Natalie x
P.S - And for anyone who is wondering, yes, that really is me on the homepage!

Finally! - Bo Bo's Bedroom

2008-09-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

Finally, after a couple of months, Bo Bo's room is finally finished - well, I say finished - I still have to put a few pictures on the wall, but I always find that bit the hardest and it seems to take the longest.

The lamp I made by glueing all different scraps of fabric (cut with pinking shears) onto an old white shade, then finished off the edge with a pom pom trim

And here is a little unit that is above her cot

All in all I'm really pleased with how it has turned out, the wallpaper on the chimney breast wall is 'Summer Palace' by Laura Ashley, as is the Roman Blind. I am going to have a picture of Bo Bo with her brothers blown up and made into a canvas to go above the 'fireplace'.
I must add however that a fair few toys have to be removed from the room prior to photographing for the sake of 'styling' which included a bright pink plastic motorbike, a bright pink little tikes car and a bright yellow mini plastic patio chair, which I'm sure you will agree you would never see in an ideal home spread!
Moving on, last night we were fed up of being in the house and decided to go down to the harbour at Scarborough for a wander around - that's the beauty of living by the sea, a ten minute car journey and you almost feel like you are on holiday yourself

This first picture was taken of the harbour as we arrived, you might just be able to see the castle up on the hill

But it wasn't long before it became dark, and this is the harbour again at night time. We headed back to the bright lights for some Harry Ramsdens fish and chips, a couple of pounds worth of 2p's played on the slots and a ride on the merry-go-round

Not quite the Saturday nights of old - but still sounds like a great night out to me!
Natalie x
P.S. - If anyone is wondering, we always refer to Georgia as 'Bo Bo' - Bo is her middle name (as in Bo Derek) but since the day she could talk she has always called herself Bo Bo and boy has it stuck!

Sunday Ramblings

2008-09-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone
Well, surprisingly its a beautiful sunny Sunday here in Filey, after all the recent rain, its lovely to see the sunshine, but unfortunately it will be just through the windows today as I have loads to do in the house, and I have just seen hubby carrying his toolbox into Georgia's room, which can only mean that he is going to change her window. When that is done, I promise I will post lots of pictures of her room, you will recall that decorating it was a mammoth job, involving taking all the plaster off right down to the wooden framework. I have shown you snippets, but have held off showing you the whole room until the final bit (i,e the window) was completed.
Yesterday we had a lovely day visiting York. It is three years since we bought any new bedding for our bed, so I picked up this lovely set in BHS.

Even lovelier was that it was discounted when I took it to the checkout. Sorry the pictures are so dark, but I took them late last night. the bedding has really vibrant embroidery on it, and I think it will look lovely with some Cath Kidston floral pillowcases behind the main pair.
While I'm at it, I also wanted to show you this lovely mannequin I picked up in a quaint little shop in Whitby. Georgia refers to it as 'Lady no 'ed' so that it how she is known now. It is my intention to pin all my brooches etc onto it - pretty isn't she?

A week or so ago I was tagged by Joanne and have to tell you 6 quirky facts about myself - I can't promise they will be wildy exciting, but here goes!

1. I am such a light sleeper that I simply cannot sleep without earplugs, years ago, when there was a spate of car crime on the estate where I lived, I was always the one able to give a statement to the police, because I only had to hear something on the street at an unearthly hour and I was out of bed to see what it was!

2. I have had a baby in the 7lb range (Callum 7lb 10), in the 8lb range (Georgia 8lb 4) and the 9lb range (Nathaniel 9lb 2)

3. I love to run, I have a treadmill in my bedroom (OK so I wish it wasn't in my bedroom and I am thinking of places to re-locate it to) I try to run at least 2 miles a day, usually uphill for extra pain!

4. 18 years ago I was a WAG - my boyfriend at the time never made it into the first team, but during that time I met Gazza and went to a party at Vinnie Jones house.

5. When I was 14 I won a competition in the local paper and became their 'Junior Editor of the Year' I really wanted to become a journalist, but that dream died when I left school and realised that if I got a job I could earn money right away. Funnily enough, my Eldest Callum now dreams of being a sports reporter for a national newspaper so I will encourage him all I can.

6. I have to wash my hair every day, it is very fine and looks greasy really quickly, I am jealous of anyone who only has to wash their hair every 3 days or so!

So there - not that fascinating. I am now supposed to pass this on to 6 other bloggers, so I will hand the baton to Tracy, Josie, Lucy, Jessica, Julia and Debbie
See you all later in the week
Natalie x

Lovely Swaps from Sarah

2008-09-04T04:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, Sarah and I from Pink Petal designs decided to do a swap, it has taken us some time to get round to it, but last weekend I received these lovely items in the post

I love everything, although I said to Sarah that the lovely crocheted coasters are destined for my dressing table, I don't want anyone dripping tea on those! - Look at the little baboushka doll, isn't she sweet? and Sarah made the little rolling pin especially, after I saw it on one of her previous posts. Sarah sells lots of her lovely things on etsy, you must go and have a look.
I thought I would also give you an update on the Granny squares. With 19 done, there's still a long way to go, but I am still enjoying it and think it will be a lovely project to crack on with now the nights are pulling in again (Boo Hoo!) My mum had a look at her stash and sent me a big parcel full of wool oddments, some of which were jumpers she knitted for the boys when they were babies, so each time I look at my blanket it will remind me of those days.

So we are into September now, the boys went back to school on Tuesday and the Summer seems all but over. It has been another strange Summer hasn't it ? - My thoughts are now turning to Christmas, I like to start my christmas shopping early, or at least get ideas together, and with lots of christmassy craft projects lined up for those long winter nights, I'm sure it will be here before I know it!
Natalie x

Relaxing Weekend

2008-08-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!
This bank holiday weekend was a very relaxed affair - Tim's Dad and Stepmum came over from Rotherham, and Tim and I took the opportunity of a night out together (yes, a proper grown up night out!) We hadn't had one of those since we went away for our wedding anniversary in December so it made a lovely change.
On Bank Holiday Monday we decided to explore some of the nice places not far from us, up here in North Yorkshire. Firstly we went to Thornton-Le-Dale which was really picturesque - just look at this gorgeous thatched cottage - it looks straight off a chocolate box

The weather was bright and breezy and so we enjoyed an ice cream on our stroll.
I love this picture of Georgia and Tim dropping twigs in the stream and watching them float away

We then went on to Pickering which was just as lovely and has a great flea market - I could have spent ages in there, but unfortunately the rest of the family didn't feel the same way!
Just a short post today, we have been really busy of late, I can't believe the school holidays are now drawing to a close, but I will hopefully be back to posting more regularly come September
Natalie x

One Weekend, Two Parties, One tired Mummy!

2008-08-11T04:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend saw us shut up shop and travel to Sheffield for my Nieces first birthday party. We had a lovely time, it was great to see all the family again and catch up on everyones news. My sister loved the cushion I had made for Sophia, which I showed you recently, and my Grandma was especially pleased to see us all again - I mean this literally, as she has just had a cataract operation on one eye and can't believe how well she can see now, she is waiting to see if she can have the other eye done now, it has made a great difference to her quality of life, as her eyesight was so poor, she was classed as partially blind. My Grandma is 91 years old, and has 4 Great Grandchildren (3 of them belong to me, the little one is Sophia, my sisters little girl)

I am sure you will agree that she looks great, I am going to blow this picture up and send it to her.
This next picture is my boys enjoying the party - they look like they are having fun don't they?

On Saturday evening, we stayed at Tim's Dads house in Rotherham, and on Sunday we were invited to a BBQ at some friends of theirs, back in Sheffield! - It was their grandaughter's birthday and although the weather wasn't forecast to be very good, it actually surprised us for a change. The kids spent the day running round the garden, and Georgia spent most of her time on this little trampoline (I hope Father Christmas is taking note!)

By the end of the afternoon, we had three pairs of very dirty trousers, the boys were mainly caused by diving headfirst down the slide onto the lawn - Georgia's trousers started out white linen and ended up black, amazingly though, they have washed up nicely (the wonders of vanish spray eh?)
I couldn't resist taking a photo of these dirty feet though!

Before we left my Mum and Dads on Saturday, my Dad gave me a load of veg from his garden, some Courgettes, Beetroot and Runner Beans - We are having them for tea tonight with some Lamb chops and I am really looking forward to it.

I don't know what it is about parties, basically just sitting round talking, drinking and eating food that someone else has painstakingly prepared for you, but they can be really tiring - By the time we arrived back in Filey at 7.30pm on Sunday night, I was bushed!
And its the start of another week again - The forecast is not good (anyone else getting fed up of this weather?) so our evenings will probably have to be spent inside - At least its a good chance for me to carry on with the crochet - thank you to everyone for all your kind comments - I am pleased to say I have now completed 8 squares towards my blanket.
See you later in the week
Natalie x
P.S - I received my swap parcel on Friday from the cupcake and tea swap, so I will show you what goodies I received in my next post!

Holy Moly - I can crochet!!!

2008-08-05T03:13:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to share this with my blogging friends - I am not quite sure how it happened, but - I seem to be able to crochet! I have been practising like mad over the past week or two, and there has been much unravelling and starting again, but bit by bit it seems to be clicking into place, (might have something to do with the fact that I'm a Capricorn and can be very determined). There were times when I thought I was never going to 'get' it but finally, on Sunday, I produced a 'Granny Square' and have made two more since (without using the pattern I hasten to add!). The squares measure 6" each, So I reckon 42 or 49 of them will make a good sized blanket.
This is one project I'm determined to finish, as I do have a history of starting lots of different things and never finishing any of them - So I expect you, my blogging friends to keep hassling me on whether I've done any more squares for my blanket.
Its hard to think of needing blankets to snuggle up on the sofa and keep warm, the weather here today is glorious, but I'm sure it will be with us all too soon
Bye for now
Natalie x

Corners of My Home

2008-08-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Not a long post today, just wanted to show you a little corner of my home - in this case my lounge, and the lovely lilies I bought yesterday.
My lounge is on the first floor and looks out across Filey's bowling green (on the right) and the tennis courts (on the left) - We have a window seat built into the bay window and whenever we have anyone round, they always seem to want to perch on the window seat so they can enjoy the view outside.

Finally, I keep forgetting that I have been nominated for the Brilliante award 3 times (not that I want to brag or anything!) I know the rules are that I should pass the award onto other bloggers, but to be truthful, I think this one has been doing the rounds for a while, and most of the blogs I read have already had it! Hope I don't offend anyone.
Have a good weekend everyone

Natalie x

Cups, Cushions and Crochet!

2008-07-31T04:55:00.001-07:00

At the weekend, Tim's Dad and Step mum came through again to see us for a couple of days - We had a lovely time, exploring Scarborough's Italian Gardens, eating fish & chips and sitting in the sun - Saturday was glorious weather, but unfortuntely I forgot to take the camera, never mind, I really enjoyed the Italian Gardens and am sure I will be going there again before the summer is out. The Gardens are located just off Scarborough's Esplanade and not far from the building where they film 'The Royal' on ITV. Sunday was a different thing altogether, a really bad sea mist hung over Filey all day - The beach was packed, but it was like sunbathing in thick fog - you couldn't see more than 10 metres in front of you, so there was no point in taking any pictures.

However, Terry and Sue came bearing gifts, and for me, were these 8 lovely pink floral mugs. I have put 4 under this little cabinet that hangs in the kitchen and the other 4 are hanging from my other little kitchen shelf. They look lovely and are really nice to drink from too.

Next Saturday, will be my niece Sophia's 1st Birthday and we will all be travelling through to Sheffield for her party. I know she has loads of clothes (because I pass a lot on to her!) and I'm sure she is not short of toys either, so I decided I wanted to make her something she could keep. I made her this cushion onto which I have appliqued her name, and trimmed it with cream lace and some little dragon fly motifs - I am really pleased with how it has turned out and I hope my sis likes it too!

For a long time now, I have wanted to learn to crochet, but the time has never been right, however I am determined this time, and armed with these 2 books I have been practising away. I am a fairly accomplished knitter (my mum taught me at a very young age and I remember making my first item of clothing - a maroon tank top at the age of 10) but trying to learn crochet from a book is harder than I thought. I did however manage to make this little heart using this pattern

I don't know how i managed it, and lets just say it didn't look very 'heart-shaped' until I blocked it, but its a start!
The lovely Lucy over at Attic 24 has been very helpful, giving me tips on which yarns are best to use - so all I need to do now is keep on practising. I am aiming to make heaps of ripple and granny square blankets for this winter, when I can't afford to have the gas on!
Hope you all enjoy the last day of July and I'll be back in a couple of days
Natalie x

I love school holidays!

2008-07-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

I have always been one of those mums who love having the kids around, sometimes, when I see other mums during the school holidays and they say the kids are driving them mad and they'll be glad when they're back at school, I have never been able to agree with them. Of course, my kids DO drive me mad sometimes, but I love being at home, and I love being at home with them.

Having the shop means a bit of a juggling act though, since I usually work in the shop 6 days a week, and Tim is usually out measuring for or fitting the curtains and blinds that we sell, school holidays can pose a bit of a problem, but we have found a way round it - the boys will go to the Holiday club run by our local Surestart centre from 10am-3pm on Mondays and Fridays, Wednesdays they have to come to the shop for the day, and Tuesdays and Thursdays I get to be at home with them while Tim mans the shop, and that is fine by me.

Here is a picture taken this morning of our kitchen table (if you can see the table underneath all the glue, stickers, sequins etc) They were busy making some cards for a special nana who is going into hospital soon (close your eyes mum). Georgia's card has so many stickers on it, it will be a wonder if it stands up, but it is her first experience of crafting, and she seemed to really enjoy it.
After all that crafting, it was time for lunch, and what else could we have but toasted sandwiches? - I love my Breville with a passion, I know its a bit 70's but I think they are great. Callum had ham and cheese, Georgia and Nathaniel had plain old cheese, and me being the sophisticated gal that I am had cherry tomato and goats cheese. (I had thought about finely slicing some red onion in there too, but knew that Tim wouldn't thank me if I greeted him at 4.30pm with onion breath!)
The next photo was the cause of much giggling by the boys at the fact that I was taking a photo of their dinner (you could see they were thinking 'wierdo') - 'Hey, get used to it' I said.

In his book 'Jamie's Dinners' Jamie Oliver devotes a whole 2 pages to the breville and some of his suggestions sound lovely, I particularly like the sound of mozarella, tomato and pesto - I think I will definitely have to give that one a try.

Finally, I can show you the items I made for the 'cupcake and tea' swap organised by Rachael Rabbit - I was told that my partners favourite colour was lime green, so I made this sign to hang in her kitchen - a little stuffed heart (cupcake fabric on one side and lime green on the other), a knitted cupcake and some cupcases - I hope she likes them - Being from Yorkshire, the only tea I could send was of course some 'Yorkshire Tea!' - These are all now parcelled up and on their way to Australia.

Hope you are all enjoying your time today, whether it is at home, or at work - Natalie x

Random lovliness

2008-07-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

Well so far I'm doing ok in my efforts to blog more often, suddenly it seems I have loads to talk about and loads to show you!

First off is the drawer in my 'new' dressing table - although I intend painting it up, I couldn't resist using it straight away. The plastic box with my earrings in, is an organiser I bought from hobbycraft, its supposed to be for storing embroidery threads, but its ideal for jewellery too.

Next up is these gorgeous glass draw knobs I wanted to show you which are going to go on the said dressing table - the picture frame is also a new purchase, just £1.99 from Ebay - I just need to find a piccie to put in it now!

Third up is these goodies which I received in the post from Faye
I saw the glass 'violets' bottle and thought it would also look lovely on my dressing table (hmmm this dressing table is starting to look not so much of a bargain!) and the little pink cushion at the back is a little something Faye popped in the package and it smells lovely. I can't show you what is in the other 2 packages as they will be winging their way into someones christmas pressie this year and i can't risk spoiling the surprise, but just look how beautifully Faye has wrapped them.
Last and not least was the little surprise I received in the post from Jessica - A lovely handmade birthday card and some pink floral fabric which I'm sure to find a use for - Thank you Jess!

Well, my next post won't be too far away as I've been busy working on Rachel Rabbits 'Cupcake and Tea' swap, so I'll show you some piccies of what will be winging its way to Australia soon
Natalie x

Once a bookworm....

2008-07-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

I love to read, always have, always will, I don't mean to sound patronising, but I have always rather pitied people who don't read, for they don't know the magic of getting wrapped up in a really good book.

From being very young, I always read. On Friday afternoons, my friend Susan's mum would give us a lift home from school via the library, a couple of villages away, and I would look forward to a long weekend of doing little else other than reading. To begin with I loved any mystery books, but the series by Enid Blyton was my favourite - I particularly remember 'the mystery of the strange messages' and 'The mystery of the missing necklace' - I also loved the Famous Five, but wasn't so keen on the secret seven. As I got older I loved the 'Twins at St Claire's' stories and would have begged my parents to send me to boarding school had I thought it was anything like the one I so loved reading about. Even older still and Enid Blyton gave way to the 'Sweet Dreams' romance books and 'Sweet Valley High' which I admit that I still loved to read long after I should have outgrown such books!

It therefore made me feel all warm inside, when, at the weekend, in WH Smiths, my eldest Callum picked up a copy of 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson and asked if he could buy it with his own money.

So 9.15pm every night has become the time when me and my two boys curl up on the settee downstairs and read a chapter of Treasure Island, usually alternating a page each - It is a really nice time and I hope that the experience will give them a lifelong love of books.

When my daughter came along, I never really gave much thought to what this meant, until recently when it dawned on me that now I had a legitimate excuse to read and enjoy these books all over again!

And so my little stash of 'books to read with Georgia' has begun, starting with one of my all time favourites, Milly Molly Mandy!

Here is a picture of the little reading corner in Georgia's room - the bookshelf was from the 'Great Little Trading Company' and is great because she can see which book she wants to read from the cover, instead of just seeing the spine. There are a couple of baskets full of books under the shelf and a comfy beanbag just out of shot - we often sit up here and read a book or 2 or 3 or 4!
But Im not a book snob at all - I will quite as happily read an autobiography by Katie Price as I will a book by Jane Austen. Of course, with life being so much busier than it was when I was a schoolgirl, I don't get time to read nearly as much as I would like.
Here is a list of the books I have read so far this year - have you read any of these?
1. Whitethorn Woods - Maeve Binchy (I love Maeve Binchy, 'Tara Road' is my favourite)
2. Shopaholic and Baby - Sophie Kinsella (have read all the shopaholic series)
3. I did a bad Thing - Linda Green (very enjoyable)
4. The Island - Victoria Hislop (I simply loved this - read it if you haven't already)
5. Pushed to the Limit - Katie Price (Jordan setting the record straight)
6. P.S I Love You - Cecelia Ahern (The book made me cry, I haven't seen the film)
7. How I live now - Meg Rosoff (dark but wierdly enjoyable)
8. Diva's Don't Knit - Gil McNeil (I love knitting almost as much as I love reading)
9. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith (read because I heard so many good things about it in blogland - and it didn't disappoint)
10. The Friday Night Knitting Club - Kate Jacobs (another knitting themed book, but a great story too)

So, not a very long list from someone who professes to love reading so much, but if the truth be told, I do have a book in my hand most nights, if it is not a novel, it is usually one of my craft, home or interior design books.

The above two books are two I bought at the weekend, Im reading the Jane Green book first, I love Jane Green and this one is not disappointing either, I'll have it finished tomorrow to start on Jill Mansell!

Unusually, I don't often keep my paperbacks, I usually either sell them on Amazon (to raise cash to buy another) or I take them to the charity shop, which is where I buy a fair few of my books too
So please do share if there is a book you have really enjoyed, I would love to hear all your recommendations.
And as for two posts in as many days, I have realised I love blogging almost as much as I love reading, so I'm going to make an effort to post much more often!
Natalie x
P.S - Thanks for all the dressing table love you sent my way - I bought some lovely glass knobs for the drawers today, I'll show them to you later in the week!

Shabby Chic?

2008-07-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning I got word about someone who lived a couple of streets away who had to move house soon and needed to get rid of a load of furniture quickly - We are not short of furniture, but not being one to feel I've missed out on a bargain I hot footed it straight round there with hubby's words of 'you better not come back with a load of crap' still ringing in my ears!

Then imagine the predicament I found myself in, when I saw this

'Its kind of distressed' said the lady who was selling it.
'My hubby will be, when I come home with this' I replied.

So 10am Sunday morning and I spy the nice lady's husband and son in law carting the huge dressing table down the street towards our house. All credit to Tim, he didn't say what he thought until the 2 blokes had left with their £20 (yes, just twenty quid!)

'Its shabby chic' I said
'More like shabby sh*t' said Tim

So I'm hoping you ladies out there will appreciate this fine piece of furniture, you have to look past the fact that it has been painted rather haphazardly without the handles being removed, and ignore the paint all round the mirror, because after some TLC I can see it looking very nice. And it really is huge with lovely big drawers to put all my girly stuff in - I must admit, Tim seemed won over when I told him this meant he could even reclaim his paltry shelf in the bathroom cabinet that I had begun to take over. Later on Sunday evening, I was flicking through my 'Shabby Chic' book by Rachel Ashwell and what should I see but an almost identical dressing table right there!

Please ignore the horrible combination of salmon walls, plum curtains and green woodwork in my bedroom, I told you the colour schemes we had inherited were hideous - which leads me on to our hall and stairs.

Here are a couple of pics, although its really difficult to get a good picture for some reason

All the tongue and groove on the left hand side of the picture was a real 'orangey' pine and the walls and cieling were a tangerine colour with the mustard spindles and red carpet that Im sure you'll never forget!

I bought loads of the IKEA white 'ribba' frames as I want to do a gallery up the stairs, but I am struggling to find little bits in duck egg blue and beige to sit on my shelves which were green (shown in an earlier post) but are now white. We covered up the ugly radiators with radiator covers and that is another place for me to accessorise, but I always find that bit the hardest!

Anyway enough from me, and let me know what you think of my dressing table! - Natalie x

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-06-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

On returning from our holidays, (now nearly three weeks ago - how time flies!) it seemed to begin with, that we were still in the holiday swing, We had a couple of evening picnics on the beach and a lovely trip to Peasholm Park in Scarborough when we had one particularly mild evening. Peasholm Park opened in 1912 and was designed by Harry Smith. The design and layout of the park was created to echo the famous 'willow pattern' china.

There is a lovely lake where you can go on the dragon shaped pedalos or rowing boats and in the centre is Peasholm island with its lovely waterfall and pagoda at the top. the first picture is looking across to the island, and the second picture is taken from the top of the waterfall looking back across.

Real life soon kicked in though, and we decided it was high time we decorated our hall, stairs, landing, stairs, landing (its 3 storey!) - Somehow we have managed to live with this disgusting colour scheme since we moved in 18 months ago - I suggest if you are easily offended that you avert your eyes from the next photo!

It may not be obvious, but all the walls are artexed and painted in two different shades of gold/tangerine, and who in their right mind paints spindles mustard? - Don't even get me started on the carpet.
Decorating has proved to be like painting the forth bridge - unfortunately funds don't allow for us to remove the artex at the moment, but we thought a new colour scheme and a new stair carpet would freshen things up - We have been decorating every night for the past 10 days from arriving home from work until at least midnight - and we are knackered! - We have got through over 4 litres of white satinwood and about 20 litres of pale duck egg blue emulsion. I can't believe the difference it has made - Just having fresh white woodwork makes everything look so much brighter and cleaner and the pale matt emulsion seems to distract from the artex so you don't notice it so much. As I write this, the carpet is being fitted, so more 'After' pictures to follow.

We have also been busy with the business, we are going to start selling our curtains etc on the internet and so last Thursday saw our dining room being turned into a photo shoot for the sites homepage. Hubby wanted the hompage to show a woman (me) looking lovely and relaxed (don't know how I managed that) browsing for curtains on the internet. The pictures came out really well, but I will let you be the judge of that when the site goes live!

Finally, after subjecting you to my hideous hallway, I thought I would show you a prettier shot - here is the shelf in my kitchen - except it now has the addition of two lovely little wooden birds, sent to me by Zia Koko - I'll tell you more about that in my next post.

Bye for now - Natalie x

Happy Holidays!

2008-06-06T15:21:00.002-07:00

Well we are back from our week in the Algarve relaxed, rested and raring to go! - The weather was a little cloudy on some mornings, but it soon cleared, although there was a cool breeze blowing in off the Atlantic quite a lot of the time. It was our first trip to Portugal and we really liked it, our Apartment was fantastic with really modern furnishings and 2 gorgeous bathrooms, although it was about a 15 minute walk to the Restaurants etc. The children all had a great time and were sorry to be coming home. Still - that's why its called a holiday, so today it was back to work with 6 loads of washing and ironing to look forward to!

Before our holiday, I was tagged by about 6 different people, so sorry if this turns into a long post but here goes:-

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Callum was just 8 weeks old, so I guess I was pretty busy! and I was living in a small cottage with my first husband where we kept chickens, I was 24 years old.

What are 5 things on my to do list tomorrow?
1. Ironing (As much as I hate it, it needs to be done)
2. Order some prints of our holiday photos
3. Get the knitting out again (for anyone who is interested, I never got that jacket finished in time, but thats a whole different story)
4. Try and list some things on Ebay - I have a corner in my home I nickname 'Ebay corner' and anything that I put there, gets listed - I am going to try and save all the money in my paypal account for something special
5. Take ten minutes out to relax with a cup of tea and a magazine

Snacks I enjoy
yoghurt coated raisins, dry roasted peanuts, chocolate, strawberry yoghurt

Things I would do if I were a millionaire/billionaire
Give to friends/family, support my favourite charities, buy a house with a garden and then get a hot tub/gazebo with outside bar, by loads of books on amazon, buy lots of handmade things from all my clever online friends, shop till I dropped!

Places I've lived
1. Chesterfield (until the age of 10)
2. Sheffield (from 10 until 30)
3. Doncaster (only for 3 years, but going back there feels like going 'home')
4. Filey (since Dec 2006)

Hope you are still all awake after that lot! - I hope no one minds, but I'm not going to pass it on to anyone as I think most of the blogs I read have already done this one! - I was also tagged by Josie a couple of weeks ago, but I'll save that for my next post.

Finally, just a book recommendation - I read the 'Friday Night Knitting Club' while I was away which can be found here Whether you like knitting or whether you don't, its a great read, with an ending I really wasn't expecting - without giving the game away, all I can say is I am glad I had my sunglasses on when I was reading it by the pool, or else people would have wondered who the crazy lady sobbing on the sunbed was!

Hope you are all well, and thank you for all the comments on my last post, its going to take me some time to catch up with everyone, but I am looking forward to it - Natalie x

New kitchen chairs & My new bag

2008-05-19T10:48:00.001-07:00

I decided it was about time my kitchen chairs were recovered (again!) - The last covers had been on for almost 18 months and were a rather unsuitable colour choice of cream - 3 children flinging ketchup coated oven chips around and cream chairs don't mix! - I thought that oilcloth would be much more practical and so ordered this fetching pink spot from Cath Kidston. All in all, I am fairly pleased with the result, there is quite a bit of puckering where it bends around the corners, but the oilcloth is so thick, I think it is only to be expected. Lets see how well these covers do. When hubby saw them, he said to the boys "Hmm have you noticed boys how rather a lot of pink seems to be creeping into the kitchen?" (nodding towards the Typhoon mixing bowls, pink spot oven gloves, pink pasta container, and now... kitchen chairs) - It wasn't such a surprise to him then when I commented that our chairs now no longer matched with the roman blinds, and I would have to make some new ones!

Here is a bag I made last week, it is my first attempt at a bag and I think its great, I have my handbag, but generally take a load of other stuff with me to work such as any knitting I have on the go, reading book, notebook, diary - you get my drift. I made the bag with 2 hardwearing cottons I sell in my shop - all that is missing is a magnetic clasp I think.

Hope you are all enjoying the weather - I have been busy sorting and getting organised for our holiday in 10 days (can't wait). I had took another photo for 'corners of my home' but due to the bright sunshine this evening, the photo has come out too dark so I will try again another day - Natalie x

A Perfect Weekend

2008-05-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from what I can only describe as a perfect weekend. It started on Friday when we headed back over to Sheffield to see my family, which was lovely - it was especially nice to see my niece Sophia again, as we haven't seen her since Christmas (she is 9 months old). My mum had made this lovely rag doll for Georgia, she had made me one when I was 9 years old - except mine didn't have legs! - Mum tried to pass it off as a nightdress case, but I was relieved to see that Georgia's did indeed have legs, which were clothed in lovely rose print panaloons. While we were in South Yorkshire we had a few other jobs to do, such as a visit to the dentist (no work needed) and a visit to our accountant to drop off all the books I finished the other week.

On Saturday, Tim and I had the luxury of a whole day together alone - Tim's Dad offered to babysit, so we headed off to Meadowhall to get a few bits for our holiday - It was lovely to wander around, without children, as all of you with children will appreciate - clothes shopping and children don't mix! - After shopping, we called in at a lovely country pub for a spot to eat and a glass of wine before heading back at about 9.30pm - where we sat in the garden until it went so dark we couldn't see - we had a great laugh watching some home videos from the 80's and 90's - I kept my eyes peeled for anything that might be worth £250 on you've been framed but no such luck!

Sunday, was of course Georgia's 2nd Birthday and we couldn't have asked for better weather - We headed off to Rosehill Park in Rotherham for a birthday picnic and quite a few games of cricket - It was quite simply a perfect day - We went well equipped with lounger chairs, umbrella, picnic table and loads of food and stayed in the park until about 7.30pm. Great Grandma Mary (Tim's stepmums mum) was the best - at 86 years old she was our cricket teams star fielder - I only hope I am that agile at 86! - Georgia had loads of lovely presents and the homemade cakes and tea set went down really well (especially with the adults).

So we are now back at home in Filey and looking forward to lots more sunny days! Hope you all had a good weekend and enjoyed the weather too - I will be posting another corner of my home later in the week - Thanks for reading - Natalie x

Corners of my home

2008-04-27T10:36:00.001-07:00

I have to be honest, and say that at present there aren't many corners of my home that I would want to share with anyone! - However, a couple of you have shown an interest, and so I thought I would do a weekly 'Corners of my Home' feature. We moved to this house in December 2006 and lets just say that I think the previous owner had been watching too much 'Changing Rooms' in the early 1990's - Our house is a myriad of terracotta, purple, green and aquamarine (sometimes used altogether!) - We do however always sit down as a family for every meal, and the dining room colour scheme was putting us off our food, so this was the first room we tackled - The shelves you can see on the picture are one of my favourite spots, as they hold lots of different family pics, none of the frames match, but they kind of all go together. We painted the fireplace white, which turned out really well, and above it, there is a large venetian mirror - you can just see in the reflection, that we have a black and white canvas of me and Hubby - the photograph is one taken in Summer 2006 by a professional photographer, when I appeared in a 7 page feature in 'Pregnancy and Birth' magazine. I hope you have enjoyed this peek inside my home - as I love looking at all your homes!

I have spent the morning wallpapering today (more about that in my next post), so this evening I will be taking it easy, with my feet up, doing a spot of knitting. I am making this jacket for myself - On the pattern it is fastened with a kilt pin, and the lady in the wool shop had made one with little beads dangling from it which was quite pretty, but I have another idea for fastening this jacket - hopefully it won't take me long to finish it - We are having a weeks holiday at the end of May, and I want to have it finished for then - my mum is probably laughing at this, as my knitting usually takes ages, not because I'm slow, but because I usually put it down and forget about it for ages, usually, if its something I am knitting Georgia, by the time I pick it up again, it no longer fits!

Hope you have all had a good weekend - Natalie x

2008-04-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was quite an interesting day, as I had the pleasure of meeting not one, but two fellow bloggers! - Firstly Twiggy (as we know her) called into my shop to say Hi, followed not half an hour later by Josie. It was lovely to put faces to names and I am so pleased they called in to say hello - So the same goes for anyone else out there, who may visit Filey - do call into my shop and say hi!
It is Georgia's birthday a fortnight on Sunday, she will be 2 - We have bought her a pretend tea set for her birthday, but I wanted to make something for her too, so I decided to make her some pretend food, so she can have tea parties in her bedroom. I got onto knitting these cupcakes, and it got quite addictive, so these 2 are for sale, if anyone would like one - they look good sitting on a shelf or on your cake stand. They measure approx 3 inches high and are decorated with little beads on the top. There is a white cupcase with pink icing and a pink cupcase with white icing - They are £3 each plus £1 p&p - if anyone would like one just let me know! - Pink cupcase SOLD - Thanks Vanessa
Natalie x
P.S - I read all your tips on posting photos, (thank you everyone who made a suggestion) but none of them worked - I can't cut and paste the pics at all, and blogger is just putting them all at the top of the post one on top of the other, so I can't even put any text between them - HELP!

I've been making!

2008-04-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone - Just a quick post to show you what I've been up to - here is another bunny I have made - this one is in a darker fabric and is for sale in my etsy shop

I am aware that the bunny theme may be getting a little boring now! - so here is an appliqued cushion also for sale on etsy.

I have loads of plans for things I want to make so keep an eye on my blog and my etsy shop (OK - shameless plug over now!)

Hope everyone out there has a good weekend - Natalie x

And the Winners are...........

2008-04-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

The draw has taken place for the 3 winners of the blog candy giveaway and they are:-

*Serendipity Loves New York

*Pink Petal Designs

*Sarah's Home

So well done ladies, please e mail me your addresses and I will get a little surprise off to each of you (remember though, that you now have to do the same on your blogs!)

I thought I would share with you a picture of Georgia wearing her new jumper which my lovely mum knitted her - my mum is a great knitter and has made Georgia loads of pretty things, some embelished with embroidery, ribbons or rosebuds, she looks very pleased don't you think? We have had a fairly quiet weekend here, I have been really busy doing all the bookeeping for the shop as it is year end, and generally getting organised etc. I finally finished the bulk of the paperwork on Saturday, so we went to San Marcos in Filey for a meal - San Marco's is smack across the road from our shop and their food is lovely. I took the camera along, but this is the best pic of the night!

Finally, I have been busy making bunnies again, this one for Louisa at Pixiedust. I now have an etsy account and will be loading some more things on there over the coming weeks.

Take care and have a good week - Natalie x

P.S - Does anyone know how to load photos on here properly, the last one I load always comes up first and its driving me mad!

Blog Candy Giveaway!

2008-04-07T11:46:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to receive a surprise in the post from Max as part of the Blog Candy giveaway - the rules of which are simple - you have to send something to 3 people who leave a comment on your post. I received some lovely card making goodies, I can't show you as they have already been put to good use! - So thank you Max. So simply, leave your comment and on Sunday I will get each of my 3 children to pick a name out of the hat, the lucky winners will be sent a surprise gift in the post.

I thought I would share with you some of the other lovely things I have received in the post. On the left is a gorgeous doorstop and pincushion which I swapped with Debbie for one of my bunnies - Debbie has just started her own 'shabby chic' online shop - you must take a look, she makes some lovely things. On the right is the lovely skincare I received from Marie Marie makes all her own skincare goodies which all smell lovely - the rose lotion she sent me is already nearly half empty!

Finally, since my blog name is 'Summer by the Sea' I thought it was about time I showed you the lovely beach which is just a 5 minute walk from my house - We were lucky enough to get to the beach twice this week, on Monday and Thursday - both days were really warm and sunny and we had a lovely walk while the boys and Georgia played in rockpools. Filey beach is about 5 miles long and I think it is one of the nicest beaches 'up North'

I have been really crafty this last week and have loads of things to show you, which I will save for my next post, and I'm really excited because Georgia's room finally gets a carpet tomorrow - It may take a week or two to get the room looking exactly how I want it - but I will post some piccies soon. Take care everyone - Natalie x

(P.S - Apologies for any spelling mistakes in this post, I have just come back from giving blood and its a bit hard to type with a plaster on your finger!)

Happy Birthday Callum!

2008-04-02T10:41:00.003-07:00

Couldn't resist! - My little boy Callum (pictured next to me in the photo) is ten today. The boys often have a sneaky read of my 'website' (as they call it) so thought this would be a lovely opportunity to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAL! - I cannot believe you are ten already, but we just want to you to know that you are growing into a lovely young man, so kind and considerate (although not too generous when it comes to sharing your chocolate!) and we are so proud of you - love Mum and Dad x x

The fact that I have a ten year old, did set me on a path of reminiscing though, thinking back over the last ten years, starting when I was just a girl of 24! Thinking about all the places I have visited, all the houses I have lived in, all the jobs I have had, and all the changes there have been in general - and it made me wonder what the next ten years will have in store for me - it seems like a long way away, but then I remember how quickly the last ten years has passed.

Anyway, Thats enough for now and if you are wondering why my hair looks a bit plastered to my head in the photo, it is because we have been to Waterworld in York today swimming, which was mad - it being half term, the pool was packed! - We then went onto Frankie and Bennys for lunch, which is where the photo was taken.

I will pop by later in the week to do another post, as I have some photos to show you of lovely things I have received in the post, as well as news on the 'Pay it Forward' giveaway I will be doing. I have also been tagged, so I need a couple of days to think of 7 interesting things about myself! - Georgia's carpet has been ordered and is being fitted early next week, so there will also be photos of that to post - Bye for Now x

Awards, Surprises in the post & Easter washout!

2008-03-26T08:25:00.003-07:00

Hi Everyone, Hope you all had a great Easter break. Ours was a bit disappointing to be honest, Tim's Dad and Step mum arrived on Good Friday, but his Dad was ill throughout the visit and never really came out of the bedroom - that, coupled with the extreme temperatures, snow and hail meant we didn't really get to go out anywhere - Sunday morning saw Tim and I wrap up and head off to the first car boot sale of the season, only to find it had been cancelled which surprised me as the sun briefly shone on Sunday morning! - Anyway, enough of that, and on to more exciting things. Firstly, I received a lovely parcel in the post on Saturday from Sophie I was the lucky recipient of her giveaway, and thought I had just won an egg cosy, but Sophie had also sent this lovely bunny and a handmade card too - so thank you Sophie, it was a lovely surprise and made my day!

Secondly, I was also lucky enough to receive 2 awards in one week - The 'You make my Day' award from twiggypeasticks and the 'One in a million friend award' from Claire So thank you to both of you - as you know I have only been blogging for a short while so it really makes my day to know that people out there are interested in my life!

Here also is a sneaky peek of Georgia's room - just look at those gorgeous deep skirting boards which Tim has made from 3 different pieces of architrave so that they match the original ones in the rest of the house. We are hopefully off to choose a carpet this week and once that's laid, all the furniture can be moved back in and the fun details added.

Here also, is a picture of some pretty green shelves I picked up on Ebay, they are in my hallway and just waiting to be filled with lots of pretty things - You can't see from this picture, but I also have a raincoat in exactly the same colour green which is hanging down the hallway and which I don't want to take down to wear, because it looks so good hanging there!

Anyway, I think that's about it for now - my 8 year old has been sick all day which has prevented us from a trip to the dentist (mmm I know what you're thinking, but he wasn't faking it!) but make sure you keep checking my posts, as today I have been the lucky winner of some pay it forward blog candy which I have to pass on to three other people, details to follow ......... Natalie x

Half Hour Crafting

2008-03-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well, its been quite a busy weekend - Hubby has been flat out working on Georgia's room ready for the Decorator who arrived this morning, so in between working and looking after the children, there was only time for some short bursts of crafting. The pair of lovebirds on the left is a gift I have made for a friend who has just had a baby (well, I say friend - we have never actually met, she is someone I have become friendly with over on MSE - if nothing else, she will appreciate that you can't get more moneysaving than a handmade gift!) - I have added a little pair of socks to the parcel though, as I just couldn't resist. The picture on the right is a new pincushion I have made - The one I currently use I made at the age of 17, it was a tapestry pincushion which I got so into, that I actually bunked a day off my job as an office junior so that I could stay at home and finish it - how shameful is that?! Anyway I decided that after 17 years of use I deserved a new one! - I have made this from a pair of nappy pants that no longer fit Georgia, the cotton was so pretty that I thought "why not use it" - I have noticed that since I began reading other people's blogs, I look at things in a whole different light, and whether I can reuse them or turn them into something new - must have something to do with the fact that my fabric stash is no where near as impressive as some others I have seen! Just to update you on the decorating - we now have some pink on the walls and its looking lovely - I can't wait to get in there and add all the girly touches but I will have to be patient as we haven't even picked a carpet yet, and I know we will have to wait about a fortnight for that. - Natalie x

Baking with the boys and parcels in the post!

2008-03-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well, Thursday night saw me baking with my 2 boys aged 8 and nearly 10 - I reckon it must be a couple of years since we baked together, I guess I thought they might have outgrown it, but when I suggested it, they both jumped at the chance. We decided to bake rock cakes from Jane Brockets lovely book 'the Gentle Art of Domesticity' - except I had no nutmeg, so I used cinnamon instead, and I ran out of plain flour so I did half and half with self raising, and I had no raisins/sultanas, so I chucked in mixed dried fruit, and I left out the lemon zest (um..... so not Jane's recipe at all then really!) but they were really nice, especially eaten still warm and Callum took one to school today in his pack up - so it must have got the thumbs up.

Secondly, I have a big thank you to say to Vanessa at Just Originals when Tim phoned me at work to say a pink bag had come through the post from Retford, I could hardly wait to get home! - When I opened the package, I could smell Lavender, and thought 'well it must be because she works with it all the time' - but no, Vanessa had popped one of her lovely lavendar sachets in with the pinnies as well as a lovely button heart - so thank you Vanessa, it was a lovely surprise, and the pinnies are great - here is Georgia modelling hers, and finding it very funny! - For those who missed my previous post, the pinny was part of a swap we did for one of my bunnies. Which leads me on to my second piece of news - I put one of the bunnies I made in my shop window, and sold it today for £15! - I'm now thinking that I may make some more and start selling on Etsy or Ebay but I haven't decided yet. Hope you all have a good weekend - Natalie x

Sunday in Scarborough

2008-03-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems like I have been away from the computer for days, although in reality it has only been 24 hours. the reason - well, number one is the ironing - I have just finished a 3 foot pile of ironing (no, really)! - I love ironing so much that I try to do it at least once a month, it is my second favourite activity to banging my head against a brick wall. Reason 2 is that Hubby's Dad and stepmum visited us on Saturday, although it was only a one night visit, we had a lovely day today, we went into Scarborough. It was lovely and bright, but still very cold and breezy - We walked all the way around the harbour and then went for fish and chips, finished off with a 99 on the beach. Can you believe there were actually people in the sea? - I can only assume they don't get to the coast much, as I was wrapped up in my winter coat and scarf and was still freezing! Here is a little piccie of my darling enjoying her icecream

My Shop & Decorating progress!

2008-03-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

Well, as promised here are some photos of my shop - I changed the window today and I'm really pleased with it - I think it looks really pretty and springy (and can you spot the bunny in there?!)

The fabric in the window is a lovely print called 'Tea Rose' I think it is very Cath Kidstony but half the price - it is 100% cotton and a really good quality and is just £12.99 a metre, so if anyone would like some, just e mail me and I'm happy to charge you for whatever quantity you require.

Picture 2 is another bunny I have made - this is on its way to Debbie at 'Country Heart & Home' - I hope she is pleased with it . Finally, you can see some progress has been made with Georgia's room - it is now fully plastered and we are just waiting for it to dry out - the decorator arrives a week on Monday, which gives Hubby a week to get the new window in and some skirting boards on - slavedriver - moi?!

2008-03-06T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well, this was the site that met me when I came home from work today! - Hubby had decided to take all the plaster off one of the walls in the room we are decorating for Georgia and as a result, the whole house looks like the aftermath of 9/11. There is a thick coating of dust and soot (from the chimney we've opened up) on everything! On the plus side, the ceiling and one of the walls you can't see have been skimmed and by tomorrow all the plastering should be done - looks like Hubby is in for a late night as he wanted to insulate the wall before he puts new plasterboards on - I get impatient with this bit and just want to get on with the nice stuff, such as this lovely pom pom trim that arrived today and is to go on the bottom of the roman blind I'm making for her room. It's been a quiet day today, I've popped bunny in the post to Vanessa at 'Just Originals' - I do hope she likes it! - I've also half made some bunting to go in my shop window, which I'll change this weekend, I'm going for a floral, fresh, springy theme this time - I love window dressing, and its nice to hear all the lovely comments about my window as people walk past.

Natalie x

Swaps Anyone?

2008-03-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

Hi there, seeing as it is nearly Easter, I thought I would share with you this cute cotton bunny I have made, I really enjoyed making her, although my Hubby says it looks nothing like a rabbit - I think she is rather cute. - So, would anyone like to do a swap with me, it can be for anything, either something handmade or not, It will give me an excuse to make another one for myself! I have also made these little geese from the book 'Crafting Easter Gifts' I also have the 'Christmas gifts' book and almost can't wait for christmas to come around so I can make the cute little gingerbread men garland - Natalie x

Finding Myself.....

2008-03-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks while reading all your lovely blogs, a dawning realisation has slowly come over me. I have looked around my home and realised that I am not being true to myself. I have tried to create a home in which all the family (until recently I was outnumbered male:female by 3:1) feel at home - but what I have ended up with is a home that doesn't really reflect any of us. My lightbulb moment, I suppose you could call it, came when even my husband said that our house lacked 'touches' and that none of it looked 'finished off'. I think in the past, I have been swayed by 'showhome' type rooms in glossy house magazines, but I have neglected to think about what I really like, and what reflects me. So I passed my hubby a copy of Rachel Ashwells 'Shabby Chic' and waited for the inevitable 'you're not doing that to our house' - 10 minutes later when he emerged from the toilet with the book under his arm, you could have knocked me over with a feather when he said that 'it wasn't what he was expecting' and then told me to 'set my stall out, and decide how I want our home to look'. So I now feel like I have been set free, and I'm off now to dig out some gorgeous mother of pearl teacups that were given to me by my Gran, so I can put them on display and appreciate them every day. Sorry for the long post, but I hope you will keep popping by my blog to see how I'm doing and catch up with my progress as I transform our house into a home x

What's on your bookshelf?

2008-02-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

I love my books, so I thought I would share my favourites with you and if you have any ideas for books you think I might like, please let me know. I read all types of books, but only tend to keep the non-fiction ones, or fiction, if they are hardback. All my novels I tend to pass on to friends, sell on amazon or give to the local charity shop. I particularly love my home and craft books, although I have a fair few on fashion/beauty/getting organised!

Here is my book shelf at the moment. Some of my favourite books are 'Domestic Bliss' by Rita Konig, which is a gorgeous book about keeping house with style. I also love 'Sew Pretty homestyle' which has some fantastic craft projects inside - I have a couple on the go at the moment, so I'll post some pics when they're completed. I also love 'From a house to a Home' by Jemima Mills which has loads of inspiring pictures and text about family life, and finally 'Home' by Anita Kaushal. which only arrived from Amazon yesterday, but it is a book to devour with some simply gorgeous photos inside. what's your favourite book?

My Ebay find!

2008-02-27T12:35:00.000-08:00

Well, here is the cabinet I won off Ebay, I collected it last weekend which turned out to be a really nice drive about an hour away from home, through some gorgeous countryside. It has been painted with a Crown 'period' eggshell (can't remember which one) and is actually creamier than the picture shows. The kitchen really is a 'make do and mend' at the moment, the previous owners had painted the walls pillar box red and the ceiling egg yolk yellow. As soon as we moved in, we gave it all a coat of white so we could take our sunglasses off! But I'm now thinking of painting it a soft sage colour. Sometime in the future we will be extending the kitchen and installing a new one, until then we will maybe change the tiles and worktops and maybe I can live with it for a few years.

2008-02-25T13:11:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, well this is my first post! Everything is upside down in our house at the moment, we are stripping the large bedroom behind our lounge on the first floor ready to decorate it for our little girl Georgia - unfortunately as is often the case with old houses it is not quite as simple as that - There is replastering, plumbing, a new window, and all the skirting boards to replace before we can get down to the good stuff!

I will post some pictures of the 'before' and 'after' shots so you can see the job we have! I'm really excited about doing this room as Georgia had a gorgeous nursery in our old house, decorated in 'Laura Ashley Cherubs' unfortunately it didn't get much use as we decided to move when she was just 5 weeks old!

I haven't had chance to do as much sewing as I would like lately, but I plan to get the machine out shortly and make a new range of things for my shop, as well as some little projects I have in mind for Easter. I love all things 'crafty' but particularly renovating old furniture, knitting and sewing - I would love to learn to crochet so I can make some gorgeous throws, but I just don't seem to be able to teach myself from a book.

Take care and thanks for reading - Natalie x