IT'S ALL ABOUT FRIENDS

Two weeks since my last post and lots of making and socialising has past. The first, are these three lined pinafores a piece of old Ikea fabric given to me by my friend Tina.

More Moomins, pink and striped

Fabric given to me by my Mum, left over from a dress my Mum made for a party. I made these three skater skirts. 

and two lovely gathered skirt dresses, unique and perfect for Summer 

Upcycled big bright daisy print.

Pale pink Moomins

Well, the partying started with my Mums 70's 70th party everyone got into the spirit and had  a great night.

The sun came out, and what started as a quick walk to the beach ended up with us meeting up with friends, a few beers and a few hours later we returned home to pack for our trip to London 

A great couple of days in London, catching up with old friends. A meal at Zedels Brasserie, a stroll along the Portobello Road for a few drinks, breakfast with a friend from Belfast who had been house sitting, a trip to Kingston to see friends for a meal, and getting signed up  for a pub quiz. A lovely Italian lunch, and meeting my friends gorgeous daughter for the first time. Huge thanks to my Mum and Dad for looking after the girls

Back from London on Friday, Bella was off to a skating party and Mabel and me went to China Blue  for cake and china painting

The sun shone on Sunday and we went to our first BBQ of the year to celebrate our friends birthday. We spent the afternoon eating some lovely food and relaxing in the sun, only briefly disturbed by Mabel falling into the pond fully clothed! Cloudy lemonade for me, as I had to start my steroids for chemo on Monday. Joy!

Haven't taken many photos of the girls together for a long time. I thought these really summed up their differences. Mabel the rock chick, leather jacket and Rolling Stones t shirt and Book Chick Bella looking demure in off the shoulder top and messy bun. 

Maths and literacy are not Mabel's favourite things in the world, but drawing and art is where she excels. She was asked to draw a picture of the school for a governor who was retiring, and here it is. 

chemo update. 

Earlier this week I attended a make up course "Look Good, Feel Better" organised by the MacMillan Trust. There were seven of us, different ages and various stages of breast cancer treatment. Speaking of my impending surgery, a couple of the women asked if I'd like to see their reconstructions. So make up course finished a lovely bag of free gifts including Chanel nail varnish, Liz Earle moisturiser and shower gel and Lancome eye serum, we retired to the toilet. In a rather surreal way, there I was inspecting the new breasts of women I had only known for all of two hours. Don't you just love women!

I'm now 2 days post chemo number 5. I feel like I know the procedure now, how I'm going to feel and on what days. I'm so looking forward to June 12th, my last one. 

GOOD FOOD, BAD WEATHER

Midweek visit to Totnes, and our favourite vegetarian cafe Seeds 2. We're both meat eaters, but this has such a lovely selection of salads, and my favourite, macaroni cheese.  Eat as much as you like for 7.50 and then sample their selection of cakes. Really worth a visit.

Seriously thinking of Summer but not really seeing too much of the sun.  I've made some short sleeve Summer dresses from this fresh  honey bee cotton.

and this Scandinavian style leaf print. Still need to wear a jacket with them at the moment.

Love this Denis the Menace fabric with contrasting spot bodice. I like to mix the girlie full skirt style with the naughty fabric.

You would hope that walks on the beach at this time of the year would be a little warmer but the easterly winds made for a rough sea.

and happy surfers

using up some of my superhero scraps. I made up some little bags 

and restocked on a few old favourites, like these Scandinavian bird print Bella Bags in yellow and grey

and the always popular denim spot

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to come across quite a lot of Moomin fabric, which is a real rarity, and I was really pleased with the first of the dresses 

and made some bags from some of the smaller pieces.

Found time to get out for a night with friends, although I had to stay on the mocktails as chemo was looming

chemo update

I had chemo number 4 on Tuesday and the end is in sight.  All good so far and not too many side effects thanks to my injections and vast amount of tablets, for two days after chemo I'm taking 16 tablets a day, which can be a bit of a struggle first thing in the morning.