This and that

Our 2nd week of the Easter Hols has been lovely although less busy.  We went to my Father in Law's caravan in Bewdely until Tuesday night.  On the Monday, we went to Ray’s Farm.  

It was reasonably priced for everything there is there available and will be a full day family excursion once the play barn is completed.  On arrival, we went to see the animals; pony’s, horses, alpaca’s, pigs, goats, rabbits, owls and chickens.  There are enough animals to pet and feed for an hour, perhaps more depending on the age and interest of your children. There was my husband, our 5 year old, 3 year old and baby in a pram.  My Father in Law also came and cannot walk too far or up difficult inclines.  The long walk through the mythical woods was manageable for all of us including pushing the pram.  It said it was a mile altogether there and back and there are lots of resting places along the way.  The walk took approximately 90mins as we stopped for pictures and in the bird watching hives for my husband to exercise his binoculars. 

The path is interspersed with wooden carvings of nursery rhyme characters and tree nymph’s. With it being Easter, there was an Easter trail which added to the creatures at every turn, kept my girls bouncing along.  There was a lovely lady doing Dragon storytelling and related crafts in the school room after the walk.  There is a shorter walk but it isn't suitable for prams or wheelchairs due to stairs.  While the girls made dragon eggs, the grown-ups were able to get a lovely drink in the outdoor café.  The kids then played in the play areas happily for an hour or so.

 We were there for 4-5 hours and the weather stayed dry and clear which really helped make the day great.  It’s ideal for children in primary school.  That night when we got back, the girls did some egg decorating.

 The next day we went to the Wyre Forest where they have a Gruffalo trail and wooden play area.  It's on the doorstep to the caravan park and so  foresee us re-visiting her often.  Thee is a 'Go Ape' area which will be great when the kids are older.  All 3 loved the trail and play areas.  The pics show their emotions pretty well.

 

When we got back from the caravan, we went too Malvern Library for St Georges day where they were doing face painting and scrap book making.  The next day, we had a play date at my sisters but Lydia wasn't very well so we didn't do anything else adventurous-especially as it was also raining and the rain continued for the rest of the week.  I managed to nip out to the charity shops on Saturday and picked up a much needed tall boy for £30. I plan on painting it for Michael’s room as it is currently lilac but I will have to give it a little more thought once it has arrived.

Craft wise, I have finished a couple of alterations on clothing items and finished a mermaid tail for the kids dressing up.  I bought some wadding for a quilt that I'm making and have made a few cushion covers which I plan to do a full post on next. 

I’ll leave this post with a sneak peak though.

Easter holidays

What a week so far!  With the weather being dry and sunny most  days, I have tried to get out every day for a few hours or more.  Here's a brief summary of what we accomplished.

Saturday: Play area and Worcester woods- woodland trail with Hannah, Josh and Ayla

Sunday: Church then picnic in Victoria Park with Ruth

Monday: Evesham Vale- Railway, picnic and flying a kite

Tuesday: Croome Hall with mum, sister,, niece and nephew (and my usual 3)

Wednesday: Malvern Splash & b.day party

Thursday: 3 Counties Show ground and Country tastic event

Friday: Worcester Woods- Meadow Trail

Saturday: Car Boot  and Highnam Woods

I took my camera most days and was clicky crazy with it.  Here is my week in pictures:

 The nature pictures are from the Worcester Woods meadow trail and Highnam Woods.  My husband likes to do some bird watching and we have binoculars for the kids but they’ve always been a bit too young to appreciate the stillness of woods with birdsong in the background.  We decided to test their interest (and patience) and have some time in nature.  They were very good but 2 hours is their limit, and mine.  That 2 hours includes a picnic and usually a nature trail of some sort. The pictures I managed to take are sorted under rough headings: Trees, Creatures, stages of bloom, Blue bells, Lovely leaves.

 

UFO's (Unfinished Objects) and a new look

I should perhaps start with the new look to my page.  I have been wanting to change a few things for  a while now like adding links to blogs I'm reading etc but I was worried it would take me a while to get my head around it, when in actual fact, it's very easy!  So other than the new colour scheme there are a few more additions along the left hand side which you may want to peruse at your leisure.
The UFO's have been referred to a few times and I am determined to finish things off.  There is still a list waiting but here are a few pics of things I finally managed to complete.

Waaay back in November 2012, I made a large patchwork quilt which my sister bought.  She had not long had a baby so I decided I would make her a coordinating cot quilt for her daughter.  Fast forward to March 2014, yes nearly 18 months later, I finally completed it.  My niece may not get a lot of use from it, but I hope it will adorn the back of a chair or still lie on the end of her bed for a few more years yet.  I used the same fabrics but made this one more random with different size pieces.  I then used the frill from one of the original sheets of fabric as a trim and quilted through some 2.5 tog batting.  My sister was delighted with it despite the long wait.

In January this year, I saw an idea on Pinterest for a coupon scrap book with I.O.U’s to a loved one for coffee dates etc.  I had received some beautiful textured paper as a Christmas present and decided I would use some to create a scrappy chic coupon book for my mum for mother’s day.  I did all the die cutting and compilation of the pages but it took another 3 months before I sat down to type out the offers- the night before Mother’s Day no less (the night the clocks went Forward- happy Mother’s day huh?!  They wouldn't try and pull that on Father’s day though would they?! Hmphhh)

Anywho, here’s a peek at some of the included pages.  The best part was my mum’s reaction.

 This last project hasn't been too long in the making in terms of when I actually started it but I have wanted to make a wreath for almost 2 years and it has taken me this long to make the dinky one below.  At the Stitch and Crafy show, we discovered a stall with many craft items for £1 or 12 items for £10.  Between my sister, mum and I, 24 items were purchased including these cardboard wreath shapes.  I also acquired purple and pink ink pads for stamping, white card and more cardboard wreaths and bunting shapes.

After a few hours of perusing Pinterest, I had a good idea of what I wanted to do and assembled all the necessary pieces.  I began by wrapping plain cheap string around the circle 2 times.

 I then attached a lace trip around the outer edge with a simple slip stitch.

I had some French lace in an off white colour which I pleated and sewed onto roughly a 6th of the wreath.

 

 I then began adding other pieces of lace, buttons and butterfly sequins.  I had lots of brooches and other jewellery that I was tempted to add but I decided to stop and try to keep it tasteful although I intend to make another larger one with old jewellery very soon.  here is the finished product although I will re-photograph it when I decide on a home for it.