"Helping Mother"

Well it didn't take too long - my thumb has started to recover, the sun started to shine and I wanted to make something! Fortunately, I had lots of fabric already cut, so not too much cutting involved and lots of colours to choose from. Talking about my chair last week and my favourite colours made me want to make a cosy in these colours, an attempt I think to prolong the sunshine and brightness of summer for a little longer. Anyway, bright and cheery it is and this little bit of summer is now sitting in my Etsy shop.


M has gone back to work this morning and we're all feeling a bit glum. Sorry that he's not with us to enjoy the end of the holidays and sorry that part of the holiday has come to an end. Although we were unable to get away this year, we enjoyed sharing each other's company, laughing and being silly as a family in a way that is hard to do even with your closest friends. M works long hours and is rarely home to eat dinner with the girls during the week so above all it was great to spend the day and evening with him, enjoying our meals together. The weather was awful though but we did have this weekend which was gorgeous and I think the weekend at the beach did us all good and lifted our spirits. There is nothing better than coming back from a day on the beach, faces tingling from the sun, tired from the fresh air and mucking around. (the downside being the queue for the shower, the sand all over the bathroom floor and the mountain of clothes waiting to be washed).


Just to show you what a wonderful weekend it was, here is a photo of the girls and I enjoying a few moments together in the kitchen, getting all those domestic chores done and loving every minute of it! Well, no, actually it is a print I bought at the car boot on Sunday morning. I thought I'd hang it in the kitchen - it's called "Helping Mother" - in the hope that the girls might take the hint, or failing that, add a touch of irony to the place, I think, however that I'm the only one who'll get the irony and the girls will just see it as another thing on the wall! Strangely enough they do like shelling peas, beans etc so perhaps all is not lost. Anyway the point of this ramble is that when I got back from the carboot and took the print out of its wrapper, I found that there were two of them. Well, there's only so much irony one kitchen can stand so I thought that if anyone wanted the print I'd give it to them. Please leave a comment and I'll give it away - if there's more than one we'll have a draw, name out of a hat (or mixing bowl perhaps) - that's one thing that the girls do like helping with!


I also got this lovely wicker hamper/basket at the car boot and a tray full of greengages which have been turned into pots of lovely jam. Has anyone realised yet just how addictive this jam/chutney making business is?