Yes, this is a bit old now, but I am back dating posts and trying to catchup with all the things I’ve done over the past couple of months.  One of which was the royal wedding.

Working at a rather unique school in Wimbledon and one that loves a good party, thats what we had.  We held a street party for all the children.  We had cakes, jelly, pies and of course champagne for the staff, but before all this could happen we had to sing the national anthem and wave at the helicopter flying over to take photographs.

In keeping with the royal theme I headed on into town to watch the wedding the day.

Then on the monday we decided a picnic in Windsor was a good idea.  I ‘d never been there before so we had our tour round the castle, by our very informative guide.  Whilst there I did hear the funniest thing, at George VI grave.  American tourist to friend: ‘Oh, so this is where Colin Firth is buried’ ha ha ha and they were being serious!

Can’t beat a bit of afternoon tea!

A four day weekend and a trip to Rye.  Our plan was to go to Hastings until a friend of mine Holly suggested Rye, knowing I would love it.  We stayed in Haydens B&B and it was lovely, big bed, sweet little onsuite (its amazing what you can get into the smallest of spaces).  On arrival we were greeted and offered complimentary tea and cakes on the terrace, the gluten free lemon cakes was lovely and my husband really enjoyed his coffee and walnut cake.  The next morning morning again on the sunny terrace we had breakfast.  They didn’t let us down, tea, cerael and scrambed eggs, veggie sausage and gluten free toast.  It was wonderful the way they cater for individual needs, soya milk gluten free, what more could I need.

Being the glorious day we couldn’t go to that area of the UK without a visit to Camber Sands.  Bikini clad I had a stroll along the beach and stopped off for a bit of sunbathing.

The next day we treked down to Dungeness, a photographers dream.  Its a strange area sandwiched inbetween the sea and Romley Marshes, it has a RSPB bird sanctuary and the most amazing bleak pebble and shingle beach all over looking by a massive nuclear power station.  Along the edge of the beach are a few beach shacks, which I believe date back to the 20s when it became a popular holiday destination for the nearby towns.

I enjoyed walking around, exploring and taking pictures and would lovely to go back in the future to taking photos of the sound mirrors at Denge.

It feels like a year since I posted on my blog, but wait it is.  I’d like to say I’ve been busy creating, making and generally being productive but sadly no, its just a blip.  I’m back now and plan to keep things upto date.

Spring is here and several trips to Kew Gardens were to had.  The plan was taking as many school years groups to Kew for some lovely observation drawing days.  We arrived only to find lovely sculpture by Tom Hare this was the best piece of luck the children throughly enjoyed it and I was thanked many times.

In June this year we decided to go on a long weekend break to our favourite Cornwall.  We usually camp, but after the problems last year decided on a cottage.  Having browsed the net, I found the perfect little get away.

It really was special, our little Cornish Vintage retreat in Porthcothan.  On arriving I recognised the place, later to realise a TV program had been made about it.

The Red Buoy, was the wonderful home of artist & film maker Jane Drake.  Who’s husband made the film The Wrecking Season, an insight into the life of a fisherman, beachcomber and wrecker, gather the interesting finds of north Cornwall beaches.

The place was full of objects found and tracked back to there origins, be that the Amazon or Florida.  It really is an interesting watch.  I am yet to watch her current film the Art of Catching Lobsters, a look into her life during her husbands illness and death, though it seems like an emotional insight into grief and love.

The house was perfect, vintage, quaint, and exactly what I love.

Having been knitting for a number of months, it was only a matter of time before a wanted to dye my own wool.  I had been worried about the use of chemicals, so when I heard of Kool-Aid I was thrilled and wanted to get started right away.

I went out and bought some  Mirasol Yarn Cotanani, which is beautifully soft and will be wonderful to knit with.

I set about with various plastic cups of dye, plastic take away containers and spirals of wool. (Not forgetting the rubber gloves!) It went really well, though I mixed the dye with way to much water and my wool had a high cotton content, all adding to the less viberant colours.  However, I was please.

Originally the wool was going to be used to make myself a little jacket, but the colours turned out a bit to pale so I am going to shelve it and use it for baby clothes.

The pictures above show it looking a bit brighter, but it dried much lighter as you can see below.

My 70′s vintage fabric, now has a nice new home.  I has been made into cute cushion’s by my very own creative mother in law.  I’m loving the green against the red sofa!

I need to go on a sewing & dress making course myself, I am in need of cute hand made items for my home.  If you know of a course in SW London feel free to let me know.

Well, school holidays and I have 100 reports to write, so what am I doing, baking of course. I bought a new piping kit in Worcester and its great!  Though I did end up with frosting up to my elbows, not sure that is supposed to happen.

Aart from the poor lighting in the picture, I thought they weren’t bad for a first attempt.  They taste pretty good as well.

The shalom cardigan seems to be on every knitters list at some time, there are 2482 completed projects of this on ravelry and I’m sure it will increase by the time I publish my post.

After an afternoon in blacksheepwools new barn, I purchased way to much wool with no idea of projects.  The Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran in lovely bright pink, a massive pack of bargain pale pink cotton, lovely Rowan Country in green tones, for possible felting and some baby wool.

The pink aran was used to create my very own Shalom cardigan.  I changed the pattern a little, added a bit of extra length, and changed the design to close at the front and added a row of pattern to form cap sleeves.  I am pleased with the results, though still need to find wooden buttons.

I added a little crocheted flower for detail whilst waiting to find the perfect buttons.

I now have a queue of 5 projects to be completed, the first being a poncho that purchased Sirdar demin ultra for and then a few things for summer.

My first attempt at muffins, I used a recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery book cheese and spinach muffins.  Well, the mixture was a nightmare, so sticky and thick, I had to add lots of extra milk to it to be a managable consistency.

After the tricky start they tasted great, especially when warm with a nice cup of tea!  I’m going to try a few more things from this book when I get some ingredients. Yummy!