A Perfect Weekend

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

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

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!

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...........

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!

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!

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