Easter Outdoors

Hello Lovelies,
I have some outdoor images to share today. They are quite unusual for my little blog as there is no sun in any of them. I did not set out to blog only sunny images but lately I'm conscious that I only tend to get my camera out when the sun shines. I think I just like my  blog to look pretty and happy ....not grey and drab.

Well unfortunately yesterday was a very grey sort of day ....but we braved the elements , and terrible weather forecast, and made our first trip to the seaside this year. Encouraged by family who were also keen to make the trip.
I thought it was a bit mad...so will you when you see the pictures but actually we had a great time .That is why I'm keen to record it here.

The journey was relaxed , no rush or motorway driving. We chatted about daft things and had a laugh. I noticed how , now the boys are getting older, they can remember landmarks on the journey and they enjoy seeing odd things we have noticed on previous trips along this route.

It's true the landscape would have looked prettier in the sunshine but every where there were signs of spring. I loved this yellow field....not rapeseed but Daffodils...yay.....

In Norfolk lots of the villages have these interesting signs that are fun to spot........

We were heading for Hunstanton ,where the seafront gardens had pretty primulas...thankfully they were withstanding the wind ........

It was temping just to go straight into a coffee shop to hide from the wind and rain.......

But when the rain eased a little we headed for the beach ............

It was pretty deserted , not many mad fools like us out today.........

Thankfully we soon got a text from the boys cousins to say they had arrived. I love the games this group play , especially on the beach..........

While they built a sand dam I chatted with the in laws and watched the amazing antics of the Kite boarders.......

can you see the guy in the middle , he must be twenty feet in the air.

We even had a welly booted paddle.........

It's true , it was darn wet and windy but with lots of layers, a windproof coat and a baseball cap to stop my hair blowing in my eyes it was great to be out , breathing in  the fresh, sea air after a week cooped up indoors. What's that saying , there is no such thing as the wrong weather, just the wrong clothing :0)......

After an hour or so of buffeting we finally gave up and went for some lunch, followed by a little session on the penny falls machines, trying and succeeding to win these strange things, ummm, well it was fun getting them..........

Before we went back to the car the boys had an ice-cream....brrrr....how can children eat this stuff outdoors all year round ?............

I treated my self to a very modest purchase..........

A couple of reto style postcards. I loved the nostalgic feel of this one. Makes me look forward to our summer holiday. We are going to north Devon this year, somewhere we haven't been before........

We will be staying in a caravan. Not this type but the static variety. I love this image as the caravan looks very like the one we had when I was little ...........

They are by the talented Martin Winscombe who also paints on driftwood. Maybe you have seen some of his work?
Today has been lovely and sunny...typical :0)
Back soon with a mini crochet ta-dah .
Jacquie x

Easter at Home

It's been a pretty uneventful first week of the Easter holidays here. The weather has been wet and I had to work last week . But not this week, hurray.

Yesterday was one of those really nice at home days . We invited my lovely Mum in Law for lunch ( roast beef cooked in the slow cooker ...yummy ) and before the meal I enjoyed playing around picking a few blooms from the wet garden to make the table look pretty...........

I'm really enjoying having our dining table in the conservatory it's so lovely and light with more space than our dining room. I also added a meter of floral fabric from my stash added to my rather faded tartan tablecloth . Yesterday I even loved  the mismatched table wear. Can you see our rather chaotic Easter decorations on the tumble dryer ? ....

We had good fun gathering up random cuties to display under the Easter tree..........

Another thing that was making me happy was looking forward to sitting down with the May edition of country living this week ( May, now there's a month I really love)...........

It wouldn't be Easter for the boys without a few chocolate eggs , I just managed to capture these Smarties before they disappeared :0) ........

My Easter treat ( to myself ) was this rainbow pack of textured card. I'm really looking forward to using some of this in my next collage.........

I finished my second collage on Wednesday . It's A4 size like the first but this is a print I made into a greetings card. A couple of lovely bloggers made this great suggestion and I'm planning on making more to put in my shop when I get there........

I am rather thrilled with how this one turned out. I love the spotty jug and the bold background colour. Not to mention the cute chick and I'm really pleased with how the Daffodils turned out. I was a bit afraid of trying them . They are a much trickier shape than Tulips but after a bit of experimentation I finally got to a design I was happy with.

Of course I haven't given up with my crochet . These four circles are part of  my next quick project. More about that soon........

Today we have not been at home. It's been a very outdoors sort of day . An enjoyable family trip. I'll be back to tell you lovelies all about it tomorrow :0)
Jacquie x

My Collage

Hello Lovelies,
This weekend I've been finishing my collage .Tidying away after it was all done  I loved these colourful scraps of card....the paper equivalent of yarn worms :0).....

If you didn't catch my previous post you are probably a tad confused right now........Collage ? ? If you read Lucy regularly you will probably have guessed why I've been inspired to try a different medium.

As you know I love to be creative with yarn but I'm not particularly artistic so I kept my design very simple....

I used supplies from the card making phase I was into a few years ago. That involved little more than punching out shapes and sticking on embellishments so this was similar but quite different.

Playing around trying out pretty details like patterned bunting........

Last week I had the brainwave to put our dining table in the conservatory for the summer. It's great to look at the garden whilst you eat and it also makes a lovely light work space.........

With a pretty jug of tulips on the table to inspire me .........

And a craft knife instead of a crochet hook . I had such fun planning, choosing,cutting  and sticking.


Soon bunting and tulips were attached .........

Here is my finished picture.......

ta - dah........

I can see it's not the most accomplished piece , but it makes me smile. I'm really pleased with the shape of the jug. It's totally the jug I hope to one day find on the bric a brac shelves in the charity shop. Timeless Blue and white stripes and a lovely rounded shape :0)

I wanted a gingham or polka dot paper for the tablecloth but was surprised not to be able to find any in several craft shops.

Overall it's turned out pretty well for a first attempt I think.I really enjoyed the process and  I've already started on my second collage :0)


I'll leave you with a couple of other things that made me smile this weekend . Our neighbors Magnolia tree..........

And spotting the first daisy in our lawn :0)........

Can you believe it's supposed to snow tomorrow !

Hope your week goes well, with a little creative time to relax you.
Jacquie x

Out and About

Hello Lovelies,
Everywhere I turn this week there is something floral and pretty asking to be photographed so I hope you don't mind another outdoors post :0)

Yesterday was really warm with not a cloud in the sky. The daffodils looked radiant in the sunshine....

Further along the street I'm loving the pink blossom paired with the bright red Telephone box ( and of course the wonderfully blue sky ).........

Purple aubrietia cascading down a wall........

In town I have to take a break from the shopping to visit the park, and I'm so happy to find wonderful primulas and more frothy blossom..........

In the countryside the tree buds are opening up at last.........

Isn't this an amazing zingy green.


Sorry but more Daffodils, such a happy flower, they always make me smile.........

Another favorite spring flower of mine, grape hyacinths are growing in the verge. They look wonderful in a natural setting .........

Back home I've been making spring flowers of my own :0)........



This is very much a work in progress, Inspired by Lucy's post . I know it will not compare to  Caroline's wonderful collages but I'm so enjoying the thinking and planning ,drawing and cutting. It feels fun to create with paper for a change :0)
The weekend is nearly here ...yay.
Jacquie x

Evening Light

Hello Lovelies,
yesterday was a beautiful,sunny spring day. Returning home from the park at six in the evening I was delighted by the way the sunlight was shining through the petals of the Hyacinths in our front garden.

The air was warm and still and their scent was fabulous.....

I LOVE that these blooms ,bought to cheer up and dark winter day indoors ,do so well after being plonked in the ground after they have faded.

I have this years crop waiting to be planted ...must get on with that soon.The Idea of having more of the beauties to welcome me home next spring makes me very happy........

The lengthening days and the fact that we changed the clocks yesterday meant it was still light at seven pm. I popped into the garden to fetch in the washing and noticed a neighbors willow tree was looking very green.......

Then I realized the sun would be setting and if I was quick I would be able to see it . So I left the rest of the dry washing on the line and trotted up the road in my garden crocks ( not the easiest thing to trot in !) . Once I got to a gap in the hedge I was distracted by how big this years crop is already. It's rape seed and it looked as though it would start flowering any day.........

The trees are still mostly bare and the hedgerows are brown but a close look shows they too will be green very soon......

Ahhhhhhhh, here is what I hoped to see........

A beautiful sunset :0)

On a different theme , I wanted to share another baby hat I made over the weekend. On Friday I found out the baby I had made a gender neutral hat for is a girl so I could not resist hooking a pretty pink and lilac version .....

Hope you have a good Spring/Autumn week.
Jacquie x