I know, I know I said I’d have a little blogging break,

but something lovely has happened and I just had to tell you:

You may remember this post about the beautiful photograph

I had found of the Ford Robertson twins and their mother, Marion (updated post here).

Well,

Marions’ great grandson in New Zealand stumbled across my post

and contacted me

and now the photograph of Marion and her twin boys has been returned safely home where it belongs.

The family have sent me a photograph of Marion taken in 1925. Such an elegant lady:

I told you something lovely had happened!

Now, isn’t that an amazing story?

It’s been a busy couple of weeks

what with the decorating

all the end of term school activities

and working late into the night

trying to get everything ready for the Festival of Quilts

(I’ll be on stand G4, teaching workshops and demonstrating on the Pfaff sewing machine stand, say hello to me and my Mum if you’re there!)

so now it’s time to finish things off, calm down and say cheerio for a while

I’ll see you all the other side of the school holidays!

Have fun.

The plumber has been!

We’re glad we waited for him,

because this is what our pipes look like.

Today, some 12 years after making

my first patchwork quilt I have finally learnt

how to make a continuous binding.

It wasn’t difficult

didn’t take long

and looks great.

Better late than never.

It’s been very hot here.

My boys had a great time running through the sprinkler yesterday

stopping only when they were shivering blue with cold

then Joe asked for a hot chocolate to warm him up!

P.S. Still waiting for a plumber.

As I mentioned in my last post

I’m just home from teaching in Newcastle 

I was invited by Kim of

The Fat Quarters

which is a very pretty well- stocked shop (you’ll want everything) 

Over the two day workshop I taught the ladies how to make my ‘Down Beside the Seaside’ wall hanging

You can see how Pauline got on by visiting her blog

and if you are very lucky you might win a copy of the pattern in her give-away.

Don’t forget to say hello from me!

This vintage colander

planted with little Alpines

is just about all the gardening I’ve achieved recently.

And when I say ‘gardening’ I really mean

tipping the un-drunk water from our dinner glasses on it before we come in for the evening.

P.S. I’m just home from teaching at The Fat Quarters near Newcastle- thanks for a lovely weekend!

P.P.S. Still waiting for the plumber- so far we’ve had 3 here to give us a quote and still nothing… 

After 8 years we’re finally decorating our lounge.

We’ve had a wood burning stove fitted

and have chosen some rather bold wallpaper as you can see.

One day, when we’ve got carpet, furniture and curtains I’ll show you what it looks like finished.

But, I wouldn’t hold your breath- I’m still waiting for the plumber to show up. If only I knew how to move the radiator myself.

If you were to visit me today

this would be the first thing you saw

upon crossing the threshold

2 slightly squashed bees

brought home by Henry to be made better.

He’s very worried about the bees. We took a short walk on Saturday and found no less than 5 dead bees.

This can not be good.

So, I’m going to do my bit and adopt a bee hive.

Our Henry

turned six over the weekend.

Happy birthday gorgeous boy!

The only time he is ever still or quiet

(he talks in his sleep too)

is when he’s watching

Deadly 60 on the television.

Henry and his animals.