TAH DAH!!!!!! finished at long last!

Well here it is folks.....

after one and a half years....

and quite a few tears (pain)

my poppy tablecloth is finished.....

I love vintage embroidered tablecloths and have quite a few that I use....if you don't use something what is the point in having it! And i don't agree with "saving" things for best or a special day...everyday is special in my house......

I have a tablecloth that my mother can remember her grandmother sewing when she was a child and I treasure it......My mother for Christmas 2011 bought me this vintage cloth and a set of poppy iron on transfers ....I ran out and bought a selection of threads and it really has been a labour of love.

I have often picked up a vintage embroidered tablecloth and wondered who had painstakingly stitched it .... so when I finished mine I stitched my name and the date incase 50 years or so down the line someone wonders about my cloth too...although...I would like to think it will still be in the family and passed down as a family heirloom....

This cloth has been on its travels...I  have stitched on beaches and buses and airplanes and its been worked on on the Greek island of Agistri and all over the country when I have visited friends and family...it's been my constant companion....

I think my daughter Poppy will end up with this cloth....and hopefully will tell her grandchildren one day that she remembers me stitching it...and they will want it as a link to their past and distant great grandmother....

Thing is....I have another three children so  to be fair....will have to stitch another three tablecloths...think I will have a bit of a rest first though!

Shady August

What an August we have had.....

She has disappointed us these last few years....she's been a bit shy....

But  this year she has been at  her big, brash,  lazy, hazy sultry best...

I don't really do hot and although the beach is lovely there is no shade....

Took a walk to the beach today along the river, it was hot, hot, HOT, with people walking to the beach carrying boards and nets and buckets eager to get there and passing by the beauties of the river bank...Even though I have already made my first batch of blackberry jam there are still blackberry flowers to admire.....

And huge juicy caterpillars iridescent in the summer sun.....

I sought out the shady arbors of the trees......a welcome respite from the heat of the mid day sun....

And spied autumn growing above me.......

all around me the air lay heavy....everything corpulent, lush..everything seemed to have slowed as if we were on the cusp.....this is as big and vibrant and heavy and hot and green  as its going to get...

As I have thought many a time, August at her best is a rather brash somewhat vulgar month she is big and blowsy....but i am enjoying her at her most vibrant and blessing every lingering sun beam as we begin the slow descent into my most favourite season....I can just sense it approaching..........

a new blog

Please can you pop over and look at my daughters blog, she is feeling a bit lonely so can you please follow her x x x   Mummy Kitsch xxx

sailing away............

 I am so lucky to live by the sea...there is always somewhere to go....

 And always something to see.....

 Yesterday was a perfect example a Sunday afternoon spent lazing on the shore.....

 Watching the sailing and feeling all your cares sailing away........

And if you are having a salad for tea...why not take it to the beach?

crazy summer

What a crazy, lazy, hazy summer....

Has been a whirlwind of visitors....

Friends and grandchildren....

Picnics on the beach.....

A summer full of donkeys...

Camping in the garden with little boys....

And camping in the front room!...it's a long story.....

ballgames

sancastles

and lots

 

and lots

and lots

and lots of jams .

Hope you have had and still having a wonderful summer...mine has calmed down somewhat ..which is a blessing as its nearly killed me...Hopefully i can get back to blogging and reading your blogs x