All good things come to an end.

Can 7 weeks have really gone by so fast? Sadly yes. Here we are, the last day of the last week of the summer holidays. It has been a lovely break, not very restful but I didn't expect that with 4 girls to keep entertained. The time has been spent on the beach when the weather permited.

Or when the rain arrived (as it has done far too often) we stayed home and stitched or baked. This delicious Tiffin was made from Lucy's recipe and oooh it was soooo yummy. It didn't last very long I can tell you.
We spent an afteroon at the allotment picking blackberries, so ripe and squishy and sweet. Then we made apple and blackberry pie and 6 whole jars of delicious blackberry jelly. It has to be jelly in my house as we have a thing about pips in jam. But it was well worth the extra effort. 2 jars have already been eaten!!! and another 2 given away to family. We may be back for more before September is out. August ended with a bang. My dad celebrated his 70th birthday with a big party , a Hog Roast no less. It was superb and well worth the expense. The lovely catering guys came at 9.30am to set up, they put the hog in the giant roasting oven and left it their all day slowly cooking away. They served it up at 8pm and ooh it was so moist and flavoursome, I've never tated pork like it before. Sadly I haven't a decent photograph of the roasting beast. But I did find one of my sister, my girls and myself taken on the night.Don't we all look beautiful?

As a final treat to myself for surving the whole 7 weeks without loosing the plot I bought a pine dresser off Ebay for a real bargain price (lets just say it was under £50!!!) I have wanted one for years and plan to paint it eventually but for now it is in my hall with all my favourite pottery bits and pieces on it.

So there it is, hols over, September here and time to go back to work. No doubt I'll be absent for a while now so take care all, I'll be back at half term.

Edited 2.20pm ooh i forgot to add the picture of the quilt top my daughter completed this summer. She started it last year, you may remember seeing a small picture here. well, this is what it looks like now.........

Girls, girls, girls.

Tent in the car, wellies, sleeping bags, waterproofs..? yes I think we're ready to go.

The first big adventure for the big girls and their girls this summer was a camping trip to the Lake District. Now despite the weather being a little iffy they were all guaranteed a bit of fun.

Map reading skills were put to the test....3 heads are always better than one.

Interesting transport modes were thought of. I hope they've remebered to take their waterproofs!

And when it all got just a little too wet....

The big girls headed indoors for a little bit of this.

And the little girls stayed in the tent for a bit of this..!

Meanwhile back on the not so sunny North East coast, some other little girls were keeping busy.

Enrolling in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Finally they were all reunited after a wet but warm week and the sun finally decided to come out to play.

Here come the girls.....

At the end of the first week of school holidays the girls decided they wanted to make something. So they had a good rummage through my pattern draw and then we set to work.

First there was fabric to choose. Ooh so much to choose from. Of course they wanted to use my brand new fabrics not the old stuff under the bed. And well I don't blame them. My fabric stash has changed so much over the years, the colours I loved 5 years or more ago just don't do it for me anymore. So I have a HUGE box under the bed full of fabric I no longer like. They wanted to use the Bubblegum basics (see examples here) and the Timeless Treasures Apple fabric, so I took a deep breath and said yes!

We then proceeded to trace, cut and sew our dolls in a conveyor belt fashion. One traced as one cut as one sewed then they all swapped. I could have done with another sewing machine, but my old one is at my mams.Never mind. The older girls managed to do it all by themselves but the youngest 2 needed a little overseeing. By Lunchtime, we had all made a start with various bits stitched and stuffed.

By tea time it was nearly over. A lovely pile of dolly bits were on the floor. This activity had kept them occupied all day! And they were nagging me to make a start on the clothes before I went to bed. This time I put my foot down and said No! it would have to wait until tomorrow.

So there they sat all night, waiting to be put together.

The following day we had a picnic at the park planned so I took the assorted body parts with me and stitched them together while the girls played. By the end or our outing all 5 girls were put together and 4 over excited daughters wanted to go home to make clothes immediately.

So home we went.

And here they are. Ta daa. Five ever so slightly different dolly girls. One dressed and the others still being measured to new outfits.

A big thank you to Jodie for this wonderful pattern.

We have all enjoyed making your Kinder Girls and know there will be more to follow in the near future.

The next holiday installment.....what 3 of the dolls got up to on holiday.....
and what the other 2 did at home.

to be continued.......................

Summer holidays are here.

Well the gifts have been made and given out. Another school year ends and a chapter is closed as my youngest daughter leaves her first school. For 14 years I have walked my children to and from this place and now it is over. Yes I am working there, but I will be walking alone from now on. No one chattering in my ear and telling me who did what during the day or reciting spellings along the way. She is off to middle school in September and I am no longer needed to do the school run.......how fast it has all gone, surely she just started school last year? Ah time to move on and change again.

The gifts this year where handmade book covers. Wise owls for teachers, clogs for dancing teachers.
At last the hols are here and boy do I need a break. My first year as a working mum is over and I've got 7 whole weeks to catch up on house chores and crafting.
It's been a roller-coaster of a year, and a very steep learning curve. I hadn't realise quite how political working in a school could be, something I only just glimpsed at when I was a parent volunteer. There have been friendships made and friendships lost. I have had my eyes opened to adult pettiness that I can't quite believe exists. Yes it's been a funny year. The children I work with have come on well and I am looking forward to being with them next year too.

But for now it's time to slow down, let the frustrations of work float away.

Yesterday we started the break with a good long walk. We packed up a lunch and headed of to the beach. We walked up the coast to the lighthouse.

It was a beautiful day, sun shining , gentle breeze, tide out. We reached the lighthouse and pottered around the rock pools for a while and wandered around the island.

Then it was lunch with a view on a quiet sheltered sandy beach. I love this place, I don't ever want to live anywhere else, it's just so beautiful.

After a bite to eat we headed off again. One young lady had already had enough of walking and was none to happy to notice we were still walking away from home not towards it. But I wanted to show them all the wonderful place they live in. How they live in a town with a city close by and yet just a short walk away they have not only the North East coast but also the beautiful Northumberland countryside.

We reached home as the dark storm clouds finally rolled over. Exhausted sun kissed children .

This is how a holiday should be. Happy, relaxed and tired from the days excursions. Let's have more of the same please.