Sunny Sunday

What a lovely sunny day its been here in Suffolk - slightly crisp and misty first thing and then by mid-morning gloriously warm.

We headed out to our favourite carvery pub for a family lunch - as a treat for big son who has had a week of achievements and successes.  First of all he got elected as class rep on the school council, then selected to represent his school in a big inter-school science/general knowledge quiz at the TV studios in Norwich and then finally got results of his first big maths assessment since starting high school (3 tier system here) and he's top of the whole year of 150 kids :)

Best bit - despite only charging for him as a child (he's bigger than me) - he got a full adult portion of meat and most importantly an adult sized plate for him to fit completely to the brim - do wish I'd taken a photo.

After that we headed to here -

Had a quick look in all the little shops - resisted temptation to buy anything!!

Then headed along the prom towards the harbour;

Past the gorgeous beach-huts - if I ever win the lottery I will buy one of these;

Stopping at one of the kiosks for one of these;

Last but not least - this was parked on the high prom - another part of my lottery winning wishlist!!

All in all a rather lovely day.  Hoping to top it off by winning some CK fabric on ebay tonight so I can start on my first project from the Sew book - my very own Stanley!!

Sew Pics as promised

As I promised yesterday, here are just a few pics from the Sew book - things I like and shall one day get round to making;

I saw mentioned on another blog about some excellent gifts in this months magazines - a teatowel in Easy Living (can't find one of those yet - my shop still had last months!) and a calendar in Prima - found that and they were right pictures are lovely...

Right off to pack my summer clothes away and find out what I have to wear this autumn and what gaps my wardrobe has.

Have a good weekend

Vicki xxx

Some days you could just hug the postie!!

As todays title says - some days I just could hug him. Usually when he brings my latest magazine subscription or a winning bid parcel from ebay. Today it was because he brought this .......

After a rather busy and sometimes frustrating week at work, its going to be a treat now to relax with that and this....

and start my weekend. 

Hope you all have a lovely weekend folks - see you Monday xx

Autumn :)

Well I suppose as it is October 1st so we should start to feel the changes in the seasons, however it was quite a surprise this morning to wake and realise October had blown in.

Was quite something to have to hunt out socks to wear - think I might be saying a final goodbye to my favourite summer footwear and hello to something more closed in and weatherproof.

This change of seasons does mean something good though - new socks :)  I found these ones in Next and they just jumped out at me.

Autumn treats were brought by the postie too - new CK catalogue and Novembers Country Homes magazine. 

All that was needed for the perfect autumn photo was a few pinecones from the lane and a raid on littlest sons conker collection!!

See you soon xx

Best bit about back-to-school

Well we've been back at school now for nearly a month and already we're into a routine of last minute panics and morning chaos!!  There seems so much to remember - pe kits, music, instruments, homework, lunches, glasses and cookery ingredients.  Actually the last one is something that seems to get remembered as my youngest is turning into quite a keen cook.

This weeks offering from school was scones - they were scrummy with some butter and homemade strawberry jam.  The only improvement would be the addition of some cornish clotted cream.

Boosted by this success he decided tonight that he'd like to help with dinner.  We've had a glut of tomatoes in the garden that have been ripening indoors rather faster than we can eat them.  So we decided to make a roasted tomato sauce to have with pasta.  I gave instructions and Will did the chopping and cooking.

It was delicious - think I might have my very own Jamie Oliver :)

Weekend - part 2 & Make do and Mend Monday

As much as I'd love to reclaim all my weekend from the delights of domestic chores, some still have to be done.  One of the least painless is shopping especially as for once it was stuff for the grown-ups and not the boys.  We still needed to get a 2nd duvet set for our room and so headed off into the nearest big town to find something that we both likes, didn't break the bank and also was available in super-king size.

Not an easy task but eventually after much searching we settled on this one - definately has hints of CK and shabby chic.

We also bought a large canvas print of an opening poppy head which looks fab hanging over the bed.

Monday

The final part of my plan to revamp our room was to change the curtains, however in the spirit of make do and mend, I decided to dye them.  They started out as cream with little tiny red flowers on them.

And are now a rather pleasing shade of 'Vicki' green - such named as I'm forever picking this colour whether it clothes, paint, fabric or in this case machine dye! Yes it is deliberate that the tie-backs remain undyed.

The mend part of my day? Repairing a pair of scout trousers and replacing buttons of school shirts. 

Weekend - part 1

Well what a difference a week makes. Plans made and with just a minor tweak carried out :)

Saturday saw me heading off to the Vintage Fair in Woodbridge - and yet again it was packed with loads of lovely stalls selling all sorts of treats and treasures. I had a good look around and saw soooo many lovely items it was hard to make a choice.

I had promised Lisa at BoboBun that I'd say Hi if I got to the fair and indeed I was brave and went to have a chat with her and her friend from Kitschen Pink. I bought a gorgeous badge from KP and a beautiful crocheted brooch from BB. Was lovely to meet you ladies and I hope to see you again at the next fair.

I also bought a couple of snazzy VW camper printed tea towels which I hope might appeal to the males of the house and make them more inclined to dry up?? Unlikely but worth a try. Finally I could not resist the buttons earrings - the hardest part was choosing which set I wanted.

As I’d time to spare before my return bus I went into the town of Woodbridge and spent some time browsing the many pretty shops and packed charity shops. Treated myself to a set of stacking cake tins from Laura Ashley – printed with polka dots & gingerbread and double whammy of loveliness. Finally I bought an essential item – new nightwear for me.

Was really lovely having a day to myself and its something I shall be repeating more often.

What did I do on Sunday? I'll tell you tomorrow ;)