All out of scraps!

I finally seem to be catching up on promised projects (the promises going back to last July). A couple of weeks ago I got round to lining three wicker picnic baskets with fabric so that the wool stored in them didn't catch on the sides anymore. This week I finally made Becky a bag which was big enough to hold a whole class's books for marking. The idea started whilst I was rummaging  around in a box in our loft looking for a cream throw, which I found. However in the box as well were 5 blue throws of which only 2 matched, so decided to cut up one of the odd ones for the bag

and along with a pillow case to line the bag ( recycled for Becky's uni quilt cover set)

some buttons

fabric scraps

dimensions

paper patterns

rather a mess (that was a small part of it)

I made some flowers

added stalks and turned the top down

fixed some handles and produced this

at a cost of  NOTHING! and with several hours pure enjoyment

Inspired by it I then went on to make a card for our very good caravanning friends who are off to Spain for 4 weeks

So now I am thinking about combining the two to make a bag with a caravan on the front, which I can keep in the van for shopping or beach use - watch this space!

A week in pictures

My week has certainly been busy but only with normal family life and work so I thought I would show you what's been happening through the photographs I have taken.
Saturday turned into a mammoth marmalade making morning when I decided to use the 2kg of seville oranges I had in the freezer in order to free space to freeze some fresh ones. I'll not do that again - it didn't all fit in my big preserving pan so I had to have another pan going at the same time

I ended up with the equivalent of 17 1lb jars, I'll not be making any more for a long time.

We not only celebrated pancake day on Tuesday but also the arrival of Charlotte who flew in from Newquay for a few days. What was going to be savoury pancakes for 3 turned into savoury pancakes for 5 as we took them up to Becky and Tom's for tea. Chicken and mushroom along with leeks and cottage cheese - very yummy!

A little bit of crafting on Wednesday as I finished a batch of stick flowers for Becky's friend to choose from.

Charlotte wanted to chalk paint some chairs she had been given ready for her new house, so our hall was turned upside down.

My idea of celebrating Chinese New Year with a homemade chinese meal went to pot as Charlotte and Becky were keen to go to Akbars for a curry as we hadn't made there at Christmas. However I decided that I would still get my lanterns, mats and table runner that I bought in Vietnam out anyway.

So they still remain on the table for tonight's family meal, where I am expecting all 3 children to be with us. I have just taken a Bakewell pudding out of the oven which since the photograph was taken has sunk in the middle!

Tomorrow Charlotte and Becky and I are going up to Levisham near Pickering to see Cheryl-Ann to talk about veils and head dresses, so really looking forward to that.
Enjoy your weekend - I know I will. L Anne xx

A very pleasant morning

Isn't it lovely when what starts off as an ordinary morning turns into one of pleasant surprises? - well that was ours last week. We had to go into Sheffield to collect some crockery Jonathan had ordered from Homebase so decided we would call into Go Outdoors to look at fleeces on our way back. Although the fleece was for me I soon got bored looking at them as they were the same old colours. Why do they think that women want dirty pinks and purples? David on the other hand could easily spend any amount of time looking at various 'bits of kit' and it can take several minutes to get him out of there. Having got him out and got to the car I suddenly remembered the cafe round the corner and felt the need for a coffee, suggested it and two minutes later we were in The Harland



It's a great place with tables and squashy sofas 



smiling hosts




and gorgeous cakes



A gem of a place which you wouldn't readily stumble across if you didn't know about it. We were interested to read all about their evenings of live music and have made a mental note to book one. After our coffees and shared gorgeous salted caramel chocolate brownie (at only £5-40) we moved on to Decathlon. No suitable fleece there but as we were parked opposite the new indoor market we took a stroll across.



What a thoroughly pleasant half hour spent there. It was rather quiet which meant plenty of room to walk round and explore the variety of stalls. There was a good haberdashes with some lovely fabrics (made mental note to revisit) , several Afro Caribbean stalls, Chinese and Asian stalls plus butchers, fishmongers and a very good cheese stall selling local cheeses as well as some as far away as Cornwall. Whilst there we decided that some purchases were in order and bought a bag of beef bones (50p) to make some good stock as a base for French onion soup, neck of lamb (£3) for stew and dumplings and chicken livers (£1) which has been made into three pots of pate. I would have loved to take advantage of the Afro Caribbean foods on offer but not knowing much about their cuisine I will need to do some research - I can see a little session on Pinterest coming up.
But what a pleasant morning we had ended up having after just going out to pick up a box of pots!

We made it there and back!

Well despite the snow we managed to get the caravan off the drive last Friday

and when we got to Bridlington it was like this

although there was a little of this

Saturday was very different, extremely windy with some very heavy showers and a raging sea

 The north landing

Flamborough Head and lighthouse n the background

The air sea rescue were out on maneuvers

We had a very disturbed Saturday night due to the high winds and rain, but as morning broke the wind did subside a little and the rain eventually stopped. We decided to go into Filey for our beach walk but unfortunately the tide was coming in so we couldn't get far and ended up on the promenade watching some very hardy surfers

and then up through the park and down the back steps to the cobble landing

where we had a picnic!

and a go on the slots

and because we hadn't really managed a good walk on the beach we went back to the south beach at Bridlington 

I really like it up that end by the sand dunes, although I'm not sure whether I would like to live in one of those houses as they were rather remote.

By Monday the wind had gone to our relief so no problems towing the van home after our last walk across the beach to the harbour

All very similar to last year and just as good despite the weather. All we need is good food and excellent company both of which we had.