Sea Craft.

We have been away for a few days, taking it quietly and trying to recover from the whirlwind of the past few months... and try to get on top of our coughs and colds at the same time.
Hugo and I had a lovely morning together working on a mobil for each of our rooms. I love this age, he is 9 and still full of wonder and imagination but also very capable.

Look at those little hands!

Crafting by the beach at one of the most peaceful locations has done so much for my soul. I am in a kind of post-viral fatigue at the moment so changing my pace and dropping the idea of what I need to achieve in the day has been invaluable.

I think everybody should start choosing of their drink by the colour of the bottle. We need more blue and green sea glass. Enough with brown I say. By the way, I'm trying to introduce a new concept to the boys that I own all of the blue, green and white sea glass on the beach and that when they find it, they need to hand it over to me immediately. They can keep all the brown sea glass that they find. Unfortunately they see right past me.

Sigh.

Awwwww.

Lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx

My Favourite Hot Chocolate (in York)

 I have now taken all of the photos and almost finished writing up the tutorial for the roses but it's suddenly reached the stage on a Sunday afternoon where I just want to snuggle with the boys on the couch and make the most of a rainy night. I hope you understand and I promise that tomorrow it will be action stations again!

So, for the meantime I thought I would show a photo of one of my favourite places on our trip - a caravan named 'Flo' (run by the cupcake bakery Crumbs) by Yorkminster. By the way Yorkminster + vintage caravan = heaven.

 Flo serves the best hot chocolate ever and provides the most glorious seating as well.

 Can you imagine having a business like this. I know it would be full of hard work but from the outside - what a dream.

 The cupcakery itself was a delight. Hugo and I had the honoured job of buying a stash of cupcakes for the family.

We were both bedside ourselves with the pink couch. Hugo is still at that stage where anything he knows I like makes him squirmy and jumpy for joy.... "Look at this Mum, look at this Mum, look at this Mum".

Gaaaaahhhhh - they even had a great gluten free section which made me deliriously happy.

Lots and lots of love,

Kate.

p.s. this post is completely unsolicited but I kind of wish that it was solicited (not a great word I know) and that I had been paid with an endless supply of cupcakes.

The Best Mermaid Ever.....and it could be yours!

 This is Hannah. She is a beeeeaaaauuuutiful mermaid made by my very dear friend Amanda of Amanda Makes. There is a part of me that almost doesn't want to do this post as I would so love to buy Hannah myself (but don't worry, I am putting lots of bids on for her). However, my good conscience is winning out... and so, I will let Amanda tell you about Hannah (by the way, this is where you go to bid):

"So I finally got myself sorted and listed Hannah the Mermaid on Ebay! I am selling her to raise money for Cancer Research so if you'de like to give her a home then please follow this link and bid for her! The listing opens at 20.05 tonight. This is my really small way of trying to help in the fight against this dreadful disease. I know the devastation that cancer brings in it's wake, not just in terms of health but on so many other levels as well. I'm hoping and praying with all my heart that CRUK can help to find cures for the many different forms of cancer including the one that has struck my darling girl. It would be great if you could share this post as much as possible. Thank you all so much Happy bidding! Lots of love Amanda xxxx"

Amanda is the most wonderful person. On our travels she welcomed our boisterous family into her jewel box of a flat that she shares with her gorgeous daughter Jenny. And she made us feel so welcome and so loved and even let us sleep there for a couple of nights.

 Can you imagine the craziness that went on. Jonno may look a little concerned in this photo but really, he was as happy as a clam.

See!!! In fact, we may have made ourselves a little bit too much at home. 

How could we not though, Amanda has made the most beautiful place imaginable. The boys walked in and you could almost see their backpack-wearing, travelling shoulders drop in relief that they were finally in a place that made sense to them. And they looooooved Amanda so much that they have decided to come and live with her in Manchester and study gamekeeping (as you do).

 This is me in my favourite chair - I am sure that I didn't say to Archie - please take my photo in this chair.

 AND we made a Stanley together - I have a vague inkling that too much talking went on though. Archie kept us company with his hand knitting.

Such a special time and would you believe - there is another instalment to come.

Lots and lots of love,
Kate.
p.s. Remember to go here.

My Best Mug.

 I bought this mug when I was in London at Liberty. We all had a special cup when we were travelling AND a thermos so we could stop whenever we were salty for a cup of tea.... this happened regularly. 

This particular stop was a bit special as it was by a loch in Scotland. One of the most picturesque cup-of-tea spots in my life..... except for the midges. Oh my giddy aunt. As soon as we were done, we ran to the car. They bite!!!!! 

I think the whole trip was worth it just because I get to drink my tea from this cup every morning. I love it sooooo much. Hope you are having lots of lovely weekend cups of tea.

Lots and lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.

Inspiration From Everywhere....

 When I was away, unlikely things filled me to the brim with inspiration. For one, chandeliers. I think we should have more - sure our ceilings may be a little low, but they could double as tiaras. 

 a lot of time was spent photographing them wherever we went. And I was satisfied with the results until Hugo showed me how he views them.

 Like this, from directly beneath. Although the jumper batwings aren't essential.

 What a world. Eight year olds are amazing aren't they. By the way, the first five photos of this post are from Warwick Castle.

 Fabric of course will always be at the top of my list - especially velvet. Can you imagine this being your bedspread. Even looking at this now I have an uncontrollable urge to lie down and nap.

 Velvet is so soft that it even makes this hot water bottle (very literal on the bottle) look cuddly.

 And then of course there are the Columbia Road flower markets. Can you believe that I was overseas during peony season!!!!

And last of all, swans.

 And cygnets. Anybody feel like resting their weary heads upon one of these little creatures - in a loving rather than crushing way.....

Or floating off somewhere like this? Oh Kensington Gardens or Hyde Park - I really can't remember when we crossed from one into the other but what magical places.

Lots and lots of love,

Kate.

p.s. Too tired to read back on my writing so I hope I writ it well.

Hugo, Tiny Mice and the Ruins.

 Isn't it terrible, I've already forgotten where this is. Somewhere in Dorset I think. I'll look it up on the English Heritage site later. So, you might think that the boys possibly became a bit sick of seeing castles. They certainly lost patience quite quickly with us pointing out every bit of historic information ("But it's educational"...), the castles though were endlessly fascinating for all sorts of reasons as I am sure you can imagine. The ruins particularly sparked their imaginations though. 

I bought some little wooden animals in Switzerland for my photography. Hugo loved them and began setting up little scenes in nooks wherever we went. The tiny mice from the Stanley book (you can find the pattern for them here) also featured heavily in his scenes - just the right scale. And then when he found the catapult, well, he was in some kind of animal-rebellion-heaven.

Don't trust those tiny rabbits for a second. I am actually thinking of screwing a little loop into the back of one and turning it into a necklace. Is that cruel?

Hugo's catapult actually fires (and sharpens pencils). I think we both had a too much fine firing the animals. 

Lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.

Inspiration from the V&A

First of all, thank you soooo much for your Stanley orders!!! I am so appreciative I can't begin to tell you. I've been bundling up books all day and the countries they are heading off to are amazing. Also completely chuffed to see a couple being sent to NZ locations - imagine if we could have a crochet rabbit party one day (mind you, if that's not your bag don't worry, I won't stalk you.... well only a little bit).

Anyhoo, this post is a little different. It's about what inspired me on our trip. I've always had a daydream about what it would be like to spend the night in a supermarket. As alarming as it sounds, it's actually a really good dream. What would I eat, where would I sleep (lots of packets of toilet paper seems to be winning at the moment - and a spot well away from the freezer section), what I would do for lighting (thank goodness for the torch and battery section)and reading - wahoo, they stock books.

And now I have moved onto a whole new dream. Which museum I would live in if I had to.

Thank goodness for the trip because I now have a much wider selection and so I choose without hesitation, the Victoria and Albert Museum. First of all, so many places to sleep AND comfortably. Secondly, different things to wear every single day. Especially when the wedding dress exhibition is on. I almost think those reasons are enough. Ummm, what else. Best shop ever. At dinner time I would take plates from the ceramic section and go to the cafe (I didn't eat at the cafe but I hope it's good). Also, I just read that there is a Beatrix Potter display on to do with her rural experiences during WW1 and I DIDN'T SEE IT!!!! So that would keep me enthralled for a long time. 

This is not a sponsored post... in fact, who would sponsor it!!! Really.... I just loved it that much. And as for the ceramic section. Nothing has given me more inspiration. From the colours to the shapes, patterns, forms, rah-di-rah - I was utterly blown away.

There was such an amazing crossover with crochet in that so much of it was created for beauty alone. This plate of peas had me standing gormless for an awkward amount of time. Thank goodness I was alone because I really hate to think what I might have said to anyone passing at the time.

This had me like nothing else though (except maybe the peas). Can you believe this was even made by a human. 

And some beautiful colours to end this post.
Lots and lots of love,
Kate xxooxxooxx.

Nowhere Like Home....

 I am sure that I have written it before, but I think holidays are invented so you can relive that  honeymoon period with your house upon your return. We had the most wonderful trip and I can't wait to show you lots of photos (particularly of wool shops), however for the moment I'll post a few photos of the family, just to make sure that you haven't forgotten what we look like.

 This is not actually a photo of the family, I stumbled over it before and couldn't leave it out.

 I'll start putting the place names in with subsequent posts but for the moment it's hard to remember how to dress in the morning - still tuckered out from the major bout of jet lag that sprang upon us last week. I think we were somewhere in Dorset though.

So many picnics were consumed (especially after the shock bill for a lunch of toasted cheese sandwiches one day in Stratford). Fancy picnicking equipment....

 Butterbeer.

 Standing on the same floor that Shakespeare paced (at Anne Hathaway's cottage). 

Flying lessons (Alnwick Castle)

And one of Archie with his mother on Mother's Day at Disneyland (n.b. Archie's mother is actually me).

I hope this post made sense. So lovely to be back and after a few more sleeps I may even be slightly more human!

Lots and lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.