Bank Holiday Weekend - Part 2 :)

Good evening

How was your day? Ours was much drier than yesterday. We've been out & about making the most of the return of the sunshine. We decided we'd not been to visit our favourite town much this summer and that needed rectifying before the boys return to school later this week.

Where did we go??

We headed up the coast to Southwold. Fish & chips were bought and a space found on the seawall to eat them.  That was a bit tricky as the wind was coming off the sea and it meant the occasional chip got blown straight off the fork!!

I've seen pictures today on other blogs of flat calm seas - well it wasn't like that in Suffolk. In fact I've not see it quite this rough in summer for a long time;

This picture was taken up on the high prom - you can see how high the spray was reaching ;

Much to the boys disgust, we found Morris dancers outside one of the pubs;

Home in time for little son to put the finishing touches to the cake he made this morning;

He's getting rather good at baking - even better at washing up ;)

Enjoy the last few days of the summer hols - we've got a bit of back-to-school stuff still to sort. First task tomorrow is haircuts - both boys are sporting a yeti-look at the moment.

xxx Vicki xxx

Bank Holiday Weekend - Part 1

Good evening from sunny/wet/windy/sunny/torrential downpour/more sunshine Suffolk!!

Oh the joys of a english bank holiday weekend - we always hope the sun will shine but the reality is often more soggy. 

Nevermind, its a 3 day break and probably the last proper weekend we'll spend as a family until that event @ the end of the year that starts with 'C'. Obviously we'll see each other but with brassbands, childrens hobbies and of course the start of GCSE coursework we might not get the full 48 hours together!!

Yesterday we headed for a family day out c/o the few remaining days out vouchers we have collected c/o MrTesco. Not a great choice of places nearby for us but we decided that we'd head to Bressingham Steam Museum and Gardens having not been there for many years. Add to that mix the promise of an exhibition about one of our favourite classic sit-coms - Dads Army - and we thought there would be something for everyone;

Steam powered Gallopers

Steam trains a-plenty;

The gardens were a riot of colour and Bressingham Hall is gorgeous - I dropped hints to MrVV about staying there sometime in the future ;)

There were load of dragon/damselflies flying about - I love these and have tried so many times to take photos. Normally I fail - they won't land or I have the camera on the wrong setting. Yesterday (for me) success;

We had a great day out - even the bedroom hobbits enjoyed themselves more than they thought they would. There were some 1950's dodgems cars there and we decided to split into 2 groups for a ride on those. I went with big-son - I believe I might have screamed as we headed around the rink @ flat out speed - his favourite trick was to make it look like we were going to hit the wall / another car head-on BUT he'd swerve at the last moment - little git!!

BTW can you tell I'm still having fun with Picnik??

Thank you for the comments on this blogs new look - the header is just temporary until I can decide which 3 pictures from my vast collection I like the best!!

Still open for suggestions for blogshop name - more work in progress on that at the moment too.

See you later in the week.

xxx Vicki xxx

Splish, splash, splosh & swaps

Good evening from soggy Suffolk

Its been raining here almost constantly for 24 hours now - I am so glad we are at the top of a slope else I might have to consider building an ark. Even a trip out down the drive to collect the recycling bins needed wet weather gear today;

At least its quiet here tonight - big son has gone off to play badminton, little son & MrVV have gone off to band practise. Leaving me with my computer, a bar of chocolate and silence - bliss :)

The wild camp / party didn't happen last night - the weather put paid to that. Instead we had a party at Stitch & Bitch for the friend that runs the group and our youngest member. Both were thoroughly spoilt with lots of gorgeous handmade pressies. Here is what I made - a knitted cushion for one and brooch with a detachable CK badge for the other;

Can you see those gorgeous cards there? Well they were part of a set of six I bought from the lovely HappyLovesRosie - stunning pics and very well received. I'm keeping the remaining 4 for me - am planning on framing them when I can find the right frames;

I've also finished 2 more cushions this week - one for a birthday pressie for October and another for Christmas!!;

It seems that swap season is starting up again - I've signed up for 2 so far;

Floss's Autumn magazine swap - hoping this time for a US mag - maybe even a Country Living (that's one I really want to read).

The other swap is called Pumpkin Patch Swap and the theme is either Autumn or Halloween - this is being organised by Crafty Helen;

Why not pop over to both blogs and sign up?

Right I'm off to enjoy my peace and quiet - I shall probably produce a couple more triangle this evening. More cushions - this time for craft fairs and hopefully the blog shop I want to get opened. Am stuck on a name for it - anyone good at names??

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Old dog - New tricks :)

Evening

I've learnt something new :)

I love taking pics for my blog but sometimes wish I could do clever stuff with them. MrVV has a fancy photo-editing programme but that is very complicated. I've wanted some simple & Vicki-proof for a while. The other day whilst browsing my extensive list of blogs I read, I spotted someone (sorry can't remember who) mentioning a really simple one - then a young friend (a mere 17 years old) mentioned on FB that she used a simple programme too - http://www.picnik.com/. Really easy & with great results;

From these rather colourful cakes (blue sponge with pink icing - made by little son & my 9 year old niece today);

To these - even more colourful and with posh round corners on the picture!!;

Oh I think I shall have fun with that site - definately very Vicki friendly & easy to use :)

Have a good week - please pray for sunshine for Wednesday - I've a party that evening that we need nice weather for - it might involve homebrew & camping ;)

xxx Vicki xxx

Brassbands & baking

Good evening

Can't believe we've arrived at another Sunday evening already - this week has gone by so quickly.

Big son thoroughly enjoyed his day as a parking attendant at the carnival on Monday - free food & wages of course helped.  He managed to find himself a couple of other odd jobs to do last week too - he spent one day helping MrVV in his warehouse - lifting boxes, packing orders and generally by useful. He then spent a morning helping one my sisters tackle her jungle of a garden - like Tesco's say 'Every little helps' - his bank balance is benefiting nicely.

Little son ended up being my helper at home both in the garden and the kitchen. This holiday he's been really keen to help with the cooking and we've got to the point now of leaving him to do stuff by himself with me nearby as moral support.

One day on our wander down the lane into town we spotted some damsons growing in the hedges - a quick sample to test how edible they were and we were soon picking;

We gathered quite a few - some for eating and some for little son to cook with;

He decided on a crumble - he added a couple of apples too. This is the before it went in the oven shot;

Slightly heavy handed with the cinnamon but very scrummy :)

Another day he made bread rolls for lunch;

Definately an interest to be encouraged.

This week has seen the veggie patch start to produce a reasonable amount of stuff;

Enough for a veggie risotto - a family favourite

This afternoon little son & I headed out with MrVV to a brass band engagement. This time it was in Oulton Broad in the park there. The weather at times threatened rain but it held off. In fact after I'd take pictures, the cloud broke and it got really warm. It was a rather pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon - listening to the band and catching up on some knitting! Hopefully it won't be many more weeks till Little son is playing with the big band too;

There was also racing on the broad today - no idea what sort of boats;

All in all a rather lovely afternoon.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Vintage, floral and Cath :)

Good afternoon

How's your week going?  Not too bad here - sun has finally re-appeared which has made everyone happy.  The boys & I braved Ipswich yesterday - we needed to a return to school shop - not too much but enough to make your face contort when you add up the total spend! That was with us being good and searching for bargains etc. 

Re. my last post - the boys weren't too bored for long - they discovered a laser shooting, inflatable game thingie and they spent alot of time in there.

Back to my hols - seems like we've been home for far longer than a week.

Beaulieu was always aimed as a day out for the boys - actually it turned out there was lots there for me too.

Gorgeous gardens;

A wonderful little side exhibition about vintage camping and caravanning - lots of lovely picnic sets;

Of course, you'd need the right car for these - plenty of classics to choose from -here's what I'd have IF I could drive;

On the Friday we headed to Bath for my special day out - lunch in Pizza Express and trip to a store that I must be the only person in blogland not to visit - Ms Kidston's shop of gorgeous things!!  Did I buy? Well I'd been saving hard, so yes I treated myself to a few bits;

A new mini handbag (a kids one - much cheaper), a 2011 diary, some postcards, new season badges and a magnetic organiser for my kitchen (no idea if that will help).

Also on the sale rail was the most gorgeous dress - my colours, my size and within my budget! I know I shall be wearing this loads and loads - is perfect for almost all year round :)

Off to S&B later - really missed it the past couple of weeks.

BTW - anyone else having trouble with blogger & uploading photos???

xxx Vicki xxx

Bunting, barrels, brass & donkeys

Oh yes - that can only mean one thing - summer fete time in rural England.

Yesterday afternoon was spent a few miles away at Westleton  Barrel Fair - never been? Then don't miss it next summer.  Its every thing a village fete event should be;

Morris dancers

Children's races

A brass band - not MrVV's this time

A mix-n-match folky music group from a local pub. Great entertainment. You might recognise their frontman?

Its Doc Cox from That's Life - a nearby resident.

Barrel racing - just one length of the track for the women

But the men had to do the return push too!

Donkey rides

Plus loads of other stalls - selling crafts, books, plants, ice-creams, Punch & Judy, a WI tea tent and of course plenty of beer too.

So much to do & see plus friends to bump into & have a natter with. We took the 2 bedroom hobbits - did they enjoy themselves??

Judge for yourself ;)

Guess they had too much fresh air last week when we were camping!!

Now you might be expecting me to mention Aldeburgh Carnival & Fireworks which happen today. Well we've made the decision this year not to bother - the weather hasn't been great today, MrVV is busy working and to be honest it all gets too busy & crowded. Big son has spent the day there working - he was part of the Scout/Explorer car parking squad - I think he's had a good time plus of course his bank balance benefits too.

See you again soon - still need to show you some vintage/Cath/floral stuff from my hols!!

xxx Vicki xxx