holiday fun...

Hello lovelies, here I am again, late to the party as always, but I hope better late than never!  How has your Easter break been?  Here are some pics of mine...

Egg (and bunny) hunting...

Our Easter breakfast table at my Godmother's beautiful house in the country...

Homemade mini churros and chocolate sauce for breakfast = happy kids!

craft activity inspired by Jane's fabulous lolly people...

kept the boys entertained for hours!

a springtime visitor to a friend's garden!

I hope you've had a great time, whatever you've been up to.  We've also been busy with lots of house stuff; the continuing kitchen saga and an ongoing, perpetual attempt to declutter.  My facebook page has been keeping me busy, with some fabric flying out the door as soon as it arrives...I will take some more photos this week and update you on the latest additions to my stash! 

Today I have gained my 195th follower - welcome Debs and thanks for finding me!  I think I'll have to have a little giveaway when I hit 200, to say thanks to all of you lovely people who take the time to read and comment - it makes my day that so many of you enjoy what I do here, when I find the time to do it!

Schools go back here tomorrow so today we are watching a movie with the boys, and going to a friends later to let the kids go feral while we eat & drink to celebrate, finally, the arrival of spring.


Enjoy the rest of your Sunday,

Rachel x

January so far...

Hello, how are you doing?!  I've been living in the land of germs...both boys have been ill and our return to normality was delayed, as M wasn't well enough to go back to school.  There's so much I've been wanting to do, both here on the blog and in 'real life' - but all has had to be put on hold in favour of nose wiping, cuddling and dvd watching.  But today the sun was out, the coughing fits were less frequent and I'm emerging into 2013 feeling hopeful that things can only get better!

While browsing Pinterest - about all I've had the time and energy for - I came across this beautiful print by one of my favourite contemporary printmakers, Angie Lewin...

just beautiful.  I love the combination of grey and yellow...it feels like winter sunshine.

Also I'd just like to say hello to all my new followers - it's really lovely to have you here, and I'll do my best to get over to all your blogs to say a proper hello when everything's back to normal here.

Happy 2013 - fingers crossed for more sunshine and less germs! 

Rachel x

this moment...

 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Via Soulemama.

Have a lovely weekend.

Rachel x

this moment...

 

  {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Via Soulemama.

Have a lovely weekend.

Rachel x

rainy day fun...

Hello!! Sorry haven't been around much, nothing wrong, just v busy...I have a post planned about what I've been up to, but the weather has stopped me taking any good photos!  In the meantime, I just have to quickly share something lovely with you.

Do you remember those pattern colouring books from the 70s? I used to love them, and I'm sure they're at least partly responsible for my love of bold patterned fabric!  And now of course someone, specifically a man named Carlton Hibbert, has created a website FULL of amazing patterns, which are free to download and print.  He has saved me on this very rainy day!  

This is a bit of today's pattern by guest illustrator Ekaterina Panova, which me and R have enjoyed scribbling on... (I can't show you the whole thing, but if you go to the website and click on an image you can download the whole page)...

and I'm looking forward to Max having fun with this...

and this...

 

and this...

 

and this...

lovely! 

I hope all's well with you, thanks for popping by...I'll be back tomorrow to show you what I've been up to...the sun's just come out so I'm off to take some quick photos before it starts raining again! 

Rachel x

that was the week that was...

So here we are, at the end of half term (we're lucky, it's an in-set day today - yay!)- it's been a very full week-and-a-bit, in the best possible way - lots of fun with friends and family and not too much squabbling and tearing out of maternal hair!

One thing that has slipped this week has been taking photos! I have been a bit rubbish in that department, must try harder - but here are a few that I remembered to take...

last night's sparkler fun...

a terrible photo, but this is my gorgeous sister meeting Floyd for the first time...

 

cuteness personified! (apologies to anyone not doggy-inclined!)...

the best pumpkin at the halloween party (not carved by me I must add!) ...

fun in the sun at the adventure playground...

a bit more autumn colour, got to enjoy it while it lasts!...

 shadow play!

Just a small selection of the fun that was had.  We also visited friends, went to the theatre, did some sewing, made mess, tidied up, made mess again...I can't wait for the next school holiday!  Though I do need a bit of time to get ready for Christmas, I'm not one of these amazingly organised people who starts buying presents in the January sales...are you?  

Oh and thanks for the comments about the rainbow flames - they were really beautiful, and were created by sprinkling some crystals called Mystical Fire onto the fire - one sprinkle lasted ages, and they're available here...we didn't get around to ordering any for bonfire night, but I'm definitely going to stock up for future fiery fun!

I hope you had a great week last week, and have another great one this week! 

Rachel x

discombobulated....

Hello, I'm back...I've had a funny peculiar couple of weeks, with a case of evil flu which forced me to cancel everything, including R's birthday party, and retreat to bed for a few days...I still feel a bit wiped out.  

Everything else is going well, but having such a big break from blogging has made me feel a bit weird...like there's too much to catch up on, so I don't know where to start!  I feel like if I don't jump back in soon I never will, so here's a little selection of what I've been up to...

gazing lovingly at vintage goodies at our local monthly Vintage and Flea market...

at which I met the lovely Bristol based maker Alice Rose Lewis, whose work I was not at all surprised to discover has been featured on one of my favourite blogs, Kickcan and Conkers.  She was selling a few of her lovely stitched creations, I think I should have bought one for Rufus's birthday, but I couldn't decide which one!  These were some of her early works, she's got some amazing more recent pieces in her Etsy shop.

I've enjoyed R being big enough to want to join in when M is dressing up for parties...

And as my flu thankfully subsided we managed a birthday treat for R, a magical evening in the woods with storytelling and aerial acrobatics...

 

There, I feel much better now!  Thank you for all your lovely comments while I've been quiet, they have all been read and appreciated, and I have still been reading your lovely blogs and leaving the odd comment.  Someone was asking me about blogging the other day, I was feeling a bit flat about not having posted for a while.  As I started to answer her questions I realised again how much I love having this space to share, and how supported I feel by all of you who take the time to pop in and read my ramblings.  It is a special place, this blogland, and I'm so very glad to occupy my little corner of it and have you all for my neighbours!

Rachel xx

this moment...

 

 

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Via Soulemama.

Have a lovely weekend.

Rachel x

this moment...

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Via Soulemama.

Have a lovely weekend.

Rachel x

blog catch up...

Hello, I'm back from a much needed break from the PC, having been getting on with lots of busy life stuff!  The summer seems to be drawing to a close, the evenings are darkening, the air is cooling, and M has started Year 3!  

We made the most of the last days of the summer break, with lots of lovely day trips out to Bath, Glastonbury, Bristol Harbourside, parks, woods, anywhere but home really. 

 

 

The long months of winter will be here soon enough, and then we can snuggle up and draw the curtains....

talking of curtains, one of the jobs we finally got around to over the summer was putting up vintage curtains in EVERY ROOM of the house - Yay!!  I bought them all on Ebay, and they have been lurking in my fabric cupboard, waiting for F to be in the mood for putting up proper old fashioned curtain track.  I can't take nice, styled pictures because all the windows desperately need cleaning, so here are some close ups...

...oh dear, as well as never cleaning my windows, I don't iron!

not a great photo, but it'll be nice to remember the summer light when winter is here...

the boys' room now has vintage Conran robots, yay!

 

  

I'm enjoying having some mid-century loveliness in our bedroom...

So, maybe all the rooms need repainting, and the whole house is in dire need of decluttering, but at least when I shut the curtains in the evenings I have some more lovely vintage patterns to look at! 

Hope you're having a good week, whatever you're up to.

Rachel x

this moment...

 

 

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Via Soulemama.

Have a lovely weekend.

Rachel x

this moment...

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Via Soulemama.

Have a lovely weekend.

Rachel x

colour therapy...

Today we went to an amazing, immersive art/music installation called Colourscape.  It's brilliant, for kids and adults.  It travels around, if you ever get a chance, go.  We loved it.

 

The lovely Lottie of Oyster & Pearl blogged about it a few days ago, with lots of information about the project and amazing photos. If you haven't read her blog, do, it's gorgeous!  Anyway, I loved it so much I just wanted to share.

It's in Bath for one more day, then in London in September - photos are no substitute for being in it, it's a strange and magical thing.  

Hope you have a lovely Bank Holiday Monday.

Rachel xx