Verb: pootle
poo-t(u)l To move in a leisurely unhurried way,
with no real purpose


Friday 30 August 2013

One day...

♥ 

One day ( and in my head it's not in the too distant future) I would REALLY REALLY LOVE to have my own little craft room somewhere in our house, a little sanctuary of peace and calm that I can disappear to.
Obviously it's utterly essential to plan ahead , so I already have a teeny shopping list of things to go in it !
It looks something like this...
Firstly ( and I already have this ! ) there will be a  Just Pootling wall sticker, it's about a metre high so will really be a feature of the room.



♥ I'll definitely need a desk / table and I think this one from  Loaf is just about perfect - not too big, not too small and does what it's supposed to do.


           ♥ Can't quite make up my mind about the seating because I like both of these...




... this one because it has lots of lovely storage underneath and it could be a spare bed if need be ( ok, ok , I'll share my room if I have to )



...or this one, just because it looks so lovely and comfy and squidgy and just about the most perfect chair to crochet in.Again, both of these are from Loaf.
Aaaaanyway, moving on to storage - hooray, no more bags of wool behind the sofa - I'm loving the kind of industrial look at the mo and so any of these will be just right...






Loving these little wooden boxes too.
I can just picture them stacked with balls of wool.
Oooooh it's all coming together so nicely 

Now, this I absolutely LOVE - I saw it yesterday in the new Cox and Cox Autumn Collection book


definitely got to have that ! I could hang ribbons and all sorts from it.
Finishing touches would be grey spotty curtains from Clarke and Clarke ,


Soft grey paint on the walls

and of course it wouldn't be complete without some fabulous fairy lights


and that's me just about done.
Isn't it lovely to dream.

Tuesday 27 August 2013

Quick blanket update...

  Just time for a quick post before bed to show you where I'm at with the big chunky blanket...

 
... probably nearly there I think.
Definitely the quickest and cheapest one so far !
  

Saturday 24 August 2013

Summer in a jam jar...



♥ No words needed  really other than wow, and I so wish you could smell these.
  
 

 Our lovely neighbour  turned up at the back door yesterday to return the flower jars from our party and had filled them with beautiful sweet peas from their garden.



 The smell walking in to the kitchen this morning was amazing.

 
 
Summer in a jam jar.

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Two sides of the coin...

  When I look at these two pictures I have two very different lots of feelings:  A big sigh because it's nearly a week since Meg moved out and all of her things are now in her lovely new home, but then a little inside hooray because I have a room to do up !


  A couple of weeks ago I saw this beautiful vintage eiderdown and just knew it was going to have to go in Megs room when it became our new spare room. I love, love, love the deep red berry colour and think it will make the room welcoming and cosy.


  I have bought some lovely  Clarke and Clarke spotty fabric for the curtains in the same colour as the eiderdown.
 
 So, a good start, but most exciting of all... 

... we NEED to go to IKEA, whoopee !

  Oh how we love flat packs - this chest of drawers is pretty much the only bit of furniture, other than the bed, that the room needs.


♥ Of course it needs the matching mirror !
 

 Isn't there always one ... turn your back for 2 seconds and look what happens .
 
 
 Picked up a couple of bedside lights on the way through Lighting, I really like the slightly retro feel of these glass bases.

And so, that's it, we're ready to begin. Mr E is very kindly going to do a quick freshen up paint first, in my colour of the moment, so let the fun begin...
 
 
 

 

Tuesday 20 August 2013

On the way to the cricket pitch...

   One of mine and Lilou's favourite dog walks is round the village Cricket Pitch. It's a good compromise for us both in that Lilou gets to run, run, run when we get there and I get to walk through our beautiful village on the way.


 
 
  Passing the pub goes very smoothly on the way as Lilou is so mad to get out and walk, but the return is quite a different matter altogether. The smells coming from the kitchen are just too yummy for Lilou to ignore, so there's always a little bit of a tugging match here.
 
 
   We turn left opposite the pub and head down past the church. We quite often stop for a quick chat here with others who are out and about.
 

 ♥ At the end of the lane we pass a beautiful little cottage that from this view always reminds me of a dollshouse.
 
 
♥ We walk up a little rough track, over a style and we're here .... the cricket pitch, in front of the Manor House.
 Run, Lilou, run !
 

 
 ♥ The walk home is much more sedate as Lilou is usually pooped. Beautiful little white cottage on our left as we head home. Turn right at the pub, a short stroll up the road...
 

 
and we're home.
 

Sunday 18 August 2013

Bunting for a new house...



♥ Bunting is a bit like chocolate really in that you can never have too much of it, so Beth decided to make some mini bunting for Meg as a housewarming present.
                               Super easy to do and a very pleasant way to pass an hour or two.

 ♥
You will need:
About half a metre of fabric
and a 3m length of bias binding tape.
 

♥ Make a template triangle from cardboard to the size that you want your bunting to be, making sure your triangle is slightly larger to allow for the stitching down two of the sides of the triangle.
 
 
Umm - quite interesting to watch...
 

♥ Fold over your fabric so that you can cut two triangles at once, one for the front and one for the back.
 
 
♥ Cut out the triangles and if they are joined at the top where the fabric was folded cut along this edge too.
 

♥ Using a sewing machine stitch down two sides of the triangle, making sure you have the two right sides together and that you are stitching on the wrong side.
 
 
 ♥ When stitched turn the triangles inside out, so the right side is facing.
 

Using a pin make sure the point of the triangle is pulled out.
 

Give all the triangles a quick iron.
 

Lay your bias binding out flat, place the raw edge of each triangle on the middle fold line of the bias binding tape.
 
 
Fold the bias binding in half and pin. This is the most satisfying bit as miraculously all your raw edges disappear !
 
 
Pin all the flags on to the bias binding.
 
 
♥ Stitch all the way along the tape.
 
 
♥  and that's it - you're done !
 
 
 ♥ Ta-dah !
 
 
....ok, bit bored now...

Thursday 15 August 2013

A very special evening...

 
So, Meg has packed her blanket - along with everything else - and she is off to her own little house tomorrow.

 
 Exciting times ....

 
 Just time for a quick family pic before watching Megs choice of movie - her all time favourite, Disneys The Little Mermaid.
Perfect.