Thursday 6 August 2015

Between the showers.

Hello! Welcome back to Oriel. How is your summer going? Ours has been a tad miserable to say the least. I guess we should have known, toying with The Weather Gods in such a cavalier fashion. So since our purchase of some garden furniture at the end of May in a joyous burst of enthusiasm for the hot promise of a Summer, any Summer, we have used the set approximately twice and the view to the garden looks mostly like this. Sodden. Abandoned.



Met Eireann, the Irish Meteorological service has been monotonously persistent with it's daily depressing forecast of 'thundery rain moving east'; this has been the worst summer since I moved to Co. Louth and that year it rained for a biblical forty days! Nevertheless, we have been trying to make the best of it, embracing the excuse to catch up on our favourite house pursuits, crafting, baking, reading, colouring and watching as many films as can be squeezed into a rainy afternoon. I am making steady progress with O's Autumn Sunburst blanket and Rosie likes it too.


She is a very crafty dog as you can see, these are a pair of PJ bottoms that I made for E from the fabric I bought up in Belfast and blogged about here. I followed this brilliant tutorial from the completely marvellous Countryside Tales blog and managed to run them up in about three hours!



 
The sun did make an appearance briefly and conveniently for a little photo-shoot. I miss you Sunshine.
 

E is delighted with them and I cannot wait to make some for myself as soon as a little bit of fabric cash manages to settle in my purse. When we were in London, I couldn't help noticing that those colouring book for adults were all over the place, despite being an avid colour-in-er in my youth, I didn't really 'get' the concept at the time but of course now that we are At Home, they seem like such a good idea and not just for the grown ups either. I love the intricate detail of the Secret Garden one but thank-fully for our diminishing summer budget, you can print out some free sheets from Red Ted Art and I just love how the kids approach the same picture in their own unique way. Sadly no pics of our art, it is just too feckin' grey for photography.

Play-doh is another 'old' toy that is also making quite a come back in our house, of-course we had to try the allegedly fabulous no-cook make-your-own recipe but oh my goodness letting two over-enthusiastic kids loose with bright red food colouring is not for the faint hearted. My lovely old farmhouse table is now covered in great globular red stains which no amount of elbow grease can shift AND the resulting 'playdoh' was deemed Far Too Yucky and promptly discarded and Mr S cajoled into buying some real stuff from the big supermarket.

Some days, it has been too wet for some people to even get dressed and Baking in Onesies and Licking Bowls in Pyjamas has become quite a weekly event. I don't think Mary Berry would approve.


Mr S has been getting all creative too.

 
Can you guess what it is yet?

 No?

Mr S is attempting some serious pallet reconstruction. Hopefully, I will be able to reveal the result of his endeavours before next summer...! Bye for now. xxxxx

4 comments:

  1. I'll take a guess of it being a bin or bike shed...
    Just be positive about the weather, the only risk our weather runs for us is the risk of dying from boredom! Other places in the world worry about the weather killing them in some manner of heat / cold / tornado / flooding / drought... suddenly its seeming a little less gloomy, isn't it!
    Love the PJ fabric, and totally envious of onesie / licking bowl days...

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  2. Sorry you've had rubbish weather :o( Not too bad here this week so hopefully things will improve over the sea with you too.

    Am SO PLEASED you made the PJs and it all worked! They look fabulous :o) Love that fabric too.

    I know what you mean about colouring in books, I am getting a little tempted myself, just not sure when I would do it!

    Also, I love Rosie- she does exactly what Pop does when I'm making things- lies on top of them! xx

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    1. Hi CT, thanks for that tutorial -it is so easy to follow -no need to refer to the Youtube one at all. Totally addictive -I shall be making some more very soon. Rosie is so nosey and the most cuddlesome dog she just cannot be left out of any activity! xx

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  3. Yes, it is a bin shed, he is starting off small and working his way up to a big shed/sewing studio!
    Of course you are right about the weather Mell, we are certainly in no danger from our climate and it certainly give us something to talk about - and the excuse to stay in and eat and read has been restorative. Perhaps we shall move quickly into a golden Autumn? xx

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