Easter in Cape Verde...

Shhhh. Can you hear that? Beautiful isn't it? That, my friends, is the sound of silence. The sound of kids back to school. Which didn't happen until yesterday and kind of had me hanging on for dear life by my fingernails. But I made it. And so did they. And now, we are back to normal - and I am enjoying the silence.

So, I thought I'd take the time to fill you in on our trip to Cape Verde. As you can imagine I have TONS of photos, but I am going to try and restrain myself and not bore you to tears! I think I will follow the theme I started with and just keep quiet and let the pics do the talking...

Fun in the sun...

Out and about...

I found Cape Verde to be a beautiful place, poor, but richer for it's wonderful, happy, friendly people. It was lovely to have some time away, we came back totally rested and the kids made some lovely friends. The only mishap was on our last day, when a little boy dropped a plate on my foot. I ended up with a couple of stitches, but I found that a couple of Caiparinhas (Brazilian cocktails) sorted me out and dealt with the pain! It was a small price to pay for a wonderful holiday.

Back here in the UK it seems like the rain will never stop, but after my lovely break, donning my raincoat and my wellies to do the school-run doesn't feel so bad...

Hugs, B x

Hello Sunshine!

Oh my goodness. Where does the time go? Spring has well and truly sprung here in (currently) sunny England and I have spent it doing many things and that clearly has not included blogging...for that I apologise.

Forgive me? I hope so.

We have had some fab weather of late and with the children on a 4 week school holiday, we have been making the most of it. Going for walks and picnics in the country with the kiddies- and the dog, barbies in the garden and generally soaking up the rays - after all, we never know how long it's going to last here!

I hope the sun is shining where you are!

Hugs, B x

Wish you were here...

We've swapped the snow at home for sun and we're having so much fun! Unfortunately, we had to leave Jess at home, studying as she has an exam next week. Sorry Jess, take good care of yourself and Cookie and we'll bring you home a pressie!

More sunny pics to come, but how about a little teaser...I wonder if anyone can guess where we are?

1st clue: It took 7 hours to fly here from Heathrow.

Hugs,

B x
p.s despite the long nails, this picture is of Max and his amazing 'find' this morning. Note to self; must get the clippers out...

Cornwall part2

Hello. How are you? I hope you've had a restful weekend and are looking forward to a brand new week. It's been a while since we got back from our trip to Lizard Point in Cornwall, as promised, lets go for a walk through the village down to the sea. This is actually the UK's most southerly point and a gorgeous part of the world...

The chocolate box cottages are everywhere - heaven!

Apparently, these buildings used to be a monestary...




I was wearing flipflops (as usual!) so didn't take part in the rock climbing...

Goodbye from the bottom of England - See you soon!

B x

The end is nigh...

The end of school that is. As usual the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. Tonight I am out with the mums from year 2. Tomorrow I have a luncheon with the mums of year 4 and then straight after school some crazy, I mean lovely, mum has decided to host a picnic tea party for all of Eva's class plus mums and siblings in her garden - yikes! On top of that I am half way through painting Eva's bedroom and I have been making some new pretties which I will be post about very soon and putting in my folksy shop.

Busy, busy, busy!

Today I came across this picture I took while on a road trip with the kids and in-laws from Toronto to Vermont a couple of years ago. It was at the end of the day; on our first stop at a lovely B & B - what a view. It makes me feel so calm and relaxed whenever I see it. I may need to get it enlarged and have it on my wall opposite my bed as a stress reliever!

I thought I would share it with you. I hope you are all having a fun, stress-free week.

Hugs to you all,

B x
p.s I have had a lucky couple of days and won a few giveaways (never usually happens to me!) I'll tell you all about them next time...Ciao!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to the lovely Emma @ Me, The Man and The Baby. Her name was pulled from the hat...er, blue tin... by my lovely assistant Jessica. Emma, I'll be sending your handmade lavender heart in the post this week, once I've got your details.



Well, we had a lovely halfterm break from school.




We chilled out, walked the dog...

and I did some much needed sewing. I am now making matching hairbands to go with my skirts...

Check out the face on the model! I think she may have had enough of hearing me say "Stand still will you?!"

I am also working on Lavender Birds (rather than hearts) and summer dresses, which I'll fill you in on later in the week.

Big news for me...I made my first sale...

...3 SKIRTS!!! Woo-hoo!

All in all I had a productive week last week, I'm hoping for the same this week...with a little less rain and snow...and perhaps...some sunshine...?

Here's to wishful thinking!

What are you wishing for this week?

Take care,

B x

The end of an era...?

Only 2 days left until school starts... we are saying goodbye to all-day bed-heads, long dog walks and chocolate for breakfast...

(that last one only applies to me; I have a secret stash I've been working my way through)...and we'll be back to early mornings, rushed breakfasts and forgotten gym bags. This has been such a lovely break, I'll be sorry to get back to the hum-drum of everyday life...

oh, but a nice cup of coffee with my feet up and a tidy, quiet house...now that sounds appealling...roll on Wednesday...!

Until then...we'll carry on with the bed heads, chocolate and dog walks...

life is good,

B x

Ok, enough already...

I don't quite know what I've done to deserve it but my kids (the 2 youngest) had an extra week off this March break, yippee!? ;o) Ok, I'm going to admit something now, I love my kids dearly but I have no patience what so ever! And at the moment they are going through that stage where they either love each other or hate each other - and I'm not sure which is worse. When they love each other they run around the house shrieking with laughter as one tickles the other or they gang up on me and mimic me; which they find HILARIOUS.

When things aren't so rosy they are at one an others throats screaming, slamming doors and 'banning' the other from their bedroom. In their little world that seems to be the biggest snub; and will leave Eva in a bawling heap at the top of the stairs when she's on the receiving end of a bedroom ban.

So, I hope you understand, and not think me a horrid Mummy, but as much as I have enjoyed having them around, I am sooooo ready for them to go back to school!

Still you can't help but love 'em, right?!

I hope all of you with your kids back at school are having a great week; have a quiet coffee for me?

Live large,

B

p.s No sibling was harmed in the making of this blog