Looking Forward to the Holidays

School's (almost) Out For Summer 

(with all due respect to Alice Cooper!)

After weeks and weeks of drudgery, not to mention the soggy, sloppy, gloopy and sopping weather, we are beginning to think about the holidays!  Tomorrow is the last day of school, and we shall celebrate with a trip to see the new Harry Potter film and dinner at Pizza Express.  After that the next days will be taken up with the usual holiday preparations - new footwear, haircuts, visits to the dentist, and chilling out with friends and family, before heading off to sunnier climes and a bit of a rest.  

PHEW, we will all say as we feel the sun on our backs and the sand between our toes!

I am almost embarrassingly excited to be taking Thing 1 and Thing 2 to Seville for the first time.  It will be hot, but we do have this...

We are really looking forward to showing the Things our favourite places in the city, although it is almost 5 years since we have been ourselves!

The city itself is quite amazing, very historic and full of little gems to entertain the tourist, but its the real life of the place that we most enjoy.

Our favourite tapas bar

Flamenco at the Carboneria

The Banos Arabes.We've never been here, but I would love to try it out on a hot day!

And then there is the new addition to the centre of the old city which I am soooooo excited to see and experience at first hand

The Metropol Parasol by Jurgen Mayer H. Architects was completed earlier this year.  It is the largest wooden structure in the world and looks totally amazing.  Many Sevillanas were not terribly happy with the initial proposal, so I am interested to know how they feel about it now!  In any case, I think it looks totally amazing and am looking forward to sipping a freezing Manzanilla and nibbling some jamon y queso in its shade!

And after a couple of days of that, we're off to Vejer de la Frontera for a complete relax in traditional Spanish Style.  We've never stayed in Vejer before, but I'm really looking forward to being right there in the town, in the middle of a real Spanish White Town (as opposed to last year when we stayed, to our shame, in a resort on the coast, which wasn't really very Spanish at all!)

And then there is one of the most brilliant beaches in the world.... the dunes and surf of El Palmar...simply magnificent

I can't wait!

What are you up to for the summer?  Wellies in the West Country or Flip Flops in Florida?

A Colourful Post

Lately I have been seized with the need to FINISH SOME THINGS FOR THE SHOP.
Although the shop won't go live until September - I see this as the autumn collection - I have been feeling the need to finish some of the lovelies I have made so far.
So this week I have been mostly blocking:

setting out is all important

the lace blocking kit - just the thing for lacy scarves in pretty Autumn shades

 

 the soft Merino goodness of the shell scarves bring a whiff of summer past

 Oh yes....I cleaned off some of the shelves in the kitchen too!
Domestic Goddess  Moi?  Mais Oui!

Having realised what commitment this blogging business takes, I have resolved to be a better blogger and make sure I post regularly - at least up until the holidays come!  Then heaven only knows what will happen.  This domestic goddess is just off to make a Lemon Drizzle Cake for the school Tuck Shop tomorrow!
See ya soon!

The Sunshine that makes the Heart Sing

There has just been the most tremendous thunderstorm. It's been brewing for 24 hours and has just broken. It got so dark I had to put the lights on, and then, suddenly its over again!
As this is England, and it is June, you can't depend on the weather.
The weekend weather was beautiful, so I played some more with the camera. The garden is filling up with flowers, so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The thunderstorm is on its way back again!  Time to close the windows!

We are all looking forward to the sun coming out again tomorrow but in the meantime I will be embellishing some jolly nice crochet scarves and hats and some cutie hand warmers for the autumn season, and will put some pictures up to show what will soon be in the shop window for your delectation and delight - and hopefully for you to purchase as well.
I'd love to know what you think, so feel free to drop me a comment if you have a chance.
Byeee

Chatsworth Road Market

It was a quiet at the Market on Sunday, so I had a chance to chat to some of the lovely stall-holders and try out the camera.  Some lovely things on display and some lovely people to exchange ideas with. 

Me Time - beautiful and natural soaps and scrubs

Kilner Jars from Drake & Naylor
drakeandnaylor.co.uk 

D&N's has lots of lovelies looking for 'forever homes'

and vintage board games

Vintage Suitcase from Matt

collars and cushions made from vintage fabrics
saralowesuk@yahoo.co.uk

 Proper Old has some lovely Wood's Ware - my new collecting interest
postdesign@lycos.com

and lots of other interesting ceramics and what-nots

sunshine fabrics to brighten any day
saralowes@yahoo.co.uk

So we are hoping that our photography is improving and the pictures are doing these lovelies justice!

At Last ....Some Pretty Pictures

Courtesy of the lovely traders of today's Chatsworth Market I am gracing today's post with some pretty pictures taken with the help of the NEW DSLR and uploaded via the magic of technology!

More details to follow - but for now I am happy to bask in somewhat better pictures than I have managed to post before!

Not perfect yet, but improving!
It was lovely to talk to people at the market today, even though I only had about an hour to spare, but it was a really nice hour indeedy.  More details about who the cheery folks are, and what all this lovely stuff is will follow soon, but for now.... enjoy.
I do hope that these images are uploading at the desired resolution at last.  Blogger teething problems sorted, with a bit of luck!
Enjoy your evening and see you soon!

A Post with no Pics

I am having a very frustrating time!
A VERY frustrating time, indeed.
Having noticed the strictly amateurish nature of the photos I have been posting, I realised that, not only am I a rubbish photographer, but also that perhaps using a tiny compact camera was not helping my limited skills one bit!
So yesterday, with great anticipation, I entered the hallowed halls of the camera shop on Camden High Street.  I only expected to take some advice and perhaps get some ideas about slightly better than average compact cameras, as I didn't quite feel ready for a DSLR.  However, I was persuaded by a phenomenally good deal and left armed with a 4 year old Canon DSLR and all its trappings.
Feeling a very happy girl I spent the afternoon playing about with it - mostly photographing my feet.  I thoroughly enjoyed reminding myself of all the old photo-buff stuff - aperture, ISO, depth of field and all that.  Even the crappy crap weather couldn't dampen my spirits!

Not so today, I am afraid and the reason for the lack of photos on today's blog....

Eager to see the results of yesterday's experiments, I started to install the camera software on my lovely new computer - only to find that the software is NOT COMPATIBLE with Windows 7.
Humph.
Very annoying.
Very frustrating.
It never even occurred to me that there could be such an issue (buyers of second-hand cameras beware!) but here it is, staring me in the face.
I'm sure there is a way around it, and so, on the advice of Lovely Spouse I have decided to 'park it' until Monday.
If I need pictures I will carry on with Clarrie the compact. 
I am donning my best smile and going downstairs for a snuggle under the duvet with Miss Lu (the weather is STILL awful and its COLD!) and hope that tomorrow will bring more positive events!
Cheery bye!

Knitting the Clapton Mile - Part 1

So the Clapton Festival happened last weekend, and so did our Knitting Event.  The idea - from the lovely Emily Hallgarten, was to 'Knit the Clapton Mile' - a craft project to create a knitted/crochet/woven/sewn artwork which would embrace the community from the Square to the Pond in a great big textile hug!  Embedded within the project was the motivation to provide a soft and textured counterpoint to the old thoughts of this part of Hackney as the 'Murder Mile'.


 So...
     in typical style...
              we began our crafty endeavour....
                                                                                              in the pub!

 For a few weeks we spent every Thursday evening in the Elderfield (How awful! I hear you cry!) with an ever-changing group of knitters and crocheters making and creating in wool donated by the knitters, the Craft Council, the Salvation Army and husband of a dedicated knitter who had recently passed away.  And to add to the synchronicity of the event - it was also happening on Worldwide Knit in Public Day and International Yarnbombing Day!

Emily, Natacha and Eleanor in the Elderfield

 We were even filmed by an intrepid local production company making a film about the festival!

 So Saturday itself dawned and after a showery start the skys cleared, the sun came out and the Festival began!

A marquee was set up in Clapton Square and bands played all day....

...to the delight of the crowds who gathered - including Thing 1, Thing 2 and Romy

And so Saturday was deemed a great success by one and all - especially Lu and Miss Lu, who had enormous fun all day long and are looking forward to next year when we will have our own stall, we hope!

So, what about Sunday and the Knitted Mile? I hear you shout
Well you'll have to wait until the next post to hear about that one!
Toodle pip!