SAND, SAND EVERYWHERE!

This week has been filled with a little gambling on the pier, making cakes, bike riding, days on the beach, parties on the beach and a music festival.....on the beach so there's been a lot of sand in the bath and all over the house. 

Friends, fish & chips & fun

One of the rare moments the girls have spent a whole day in the sea, which was surprisingly warm. It was mainly cloudy, but the sea and the sky were the same colour so they seemed to merge into one. Beautiful!

Love a bit of gambling on Teignmouth Pier

Cake making (doubling up on everything I think we made too many)

It was then Bella's friends birthday party on the beach. The weather held out and they had an amazing time. Teaming up to play beach games, earning them water bombs for their efforts, which each team collected for a battle at the end.  Brilliant.

At the weekend it was the Teignmouth Music Festival on the back beach. On Sunday evening we went along, the bands, atmosphere and setting were all excellent!

 No sitting on the beach as the tide was abnormally high.

 It was also time to get Mabel back to work, which she took to surprisingly well. At a £1 a shoot she was happy to put some money back into her purse after the holidays.

  We call this dress Bright Clouds & Raindrops (which seems vary appropriate at the moment)

 Skater Girl 

 Always a favourite - Dinosaurs

 The Bug Dress 

Mabel finally had a £1 from the tooth fairy for the loss of her first tooth, and with another three wobbling it's like winning the lottery when your six.

Bella who is nearly 11, is so petite that we recently discovered she fits into my Age 7-8 dresses. Here she is modelling the Brains - Thunderbird pinafore dress complete with Harry's glasses to give her the "Brains look." I can already sense a little sibling modelling rivalry, which will hopefully guarantee me some very good photos going forward.

#MyCapturedMoment 

SNIPPING, SEWING & SIT UPS

So I've unpacked, put away, and done the washing, and come to terms with the grey skies. 

I've also needed to get back into some sort of exercise regime to get rid of the extra pounds I've put on during our Spanish eating and drinking fest. This means I'm out running again, and spending half an hour with Teddy Bass (of Sugar TV fame) in front of the computer (with the blinds down) 

First makes of the new range are these upcycled Thunderbird fabric girls dresses (could never accuse us of gender stereotyping) I only had enough fabric to make a 5-6 and a 7-8 and a ladies shift, so very unique they are too.

Followed by some VW Beetle fabric long sleeve dresses. 

This photo is of Mabel in a dress I made last September, which was the last time I found and used this fabric. 

Love this dinosaur fabric, the muted colours remind me of Autumn and I'd match it up with tights, brown boots, a long sleeve top and a denim jacket 

I also finished a special order, a couple of dresses for twin girls from London who are off on their holidays to America. I have more of this fabric and will be making the long sleeve version in the next couple of weeks.

The weather has been very random since we got back, so we've really had to make the most of time when it's not raining.  Harry and Bella have been playing tennis, while Mabel and I went to the play park.   Harry and I went out to meet friends for a few cocktails at the Bronx - we even had a Tom Collins (discovered in Spain) and a lovely watermelon concoction. Finishing the evening on the beach at The Ship 

Always up for a stroll and a bit of wheel action after dinner.

Saturday Bella went off to celebrate a friends birthday, which included, shopping and lunch (on their own) in town, followed by dinner and a sleepover. It's moments like this when I realise how much my 10 year old girl is growing up!

Mabel had been unwell on Friday evening, and with Bella away I was looking at a rare sunny day spent indoors. Thankfully she made a recovery, and we headed out for a bit of fresh air. Unprepared we ended up on the beach with nothing but a blanket, and because she's six and unlike Bella, not embarrassed by everything, Mabel decided it was time to get down to her knickers.

An impromptu meet up with Sarah and her son Tom on the beach, by 4pm it was pouring with rain and the finale of the Dawlish Airshow the Red Arrows had been cancelled!

So we head into our last week of the Summer holidays and the weather  outlook continues to be poor.  There are things we'd like to do before we go back so hopefully we'll be able to fit them in this week, weather permitting. 

One thing we have decided for next year is we will definitely be adding another week to our Summer holiday in Spain!

JUGGLING IN THE HOLIDAYS

First week of the two week Easter break and my multitasking skills are really kicking in!.  On the one side I want to do as many fun things with the girls as possible and make the most of our lovely surroundings, which means on the other hand I have to work late into the night to catch up......buts it's possible!

The first of this weeks makes were six new dresses (3 shift, 3 short sleeve) made from a lovely piece of Scandinavian fabric, the pattern was in a circle which wasn't easy when trying to cut out.

First day out was along the coast to Lyme Regis in Dorset (French Lieutenant's Woman country) didn't realise quite how narrow the Spit was to walk along so Mabel and I stayed back on the beach. 

The other make of the week was a collection of dresses made with VW Beetle fabric. I made three little shift dresses and one for the ladies 

I may not of mentioned before that Bella takes four dance classes a week. Ballet, Tap, Jaz and Muscial Theatre at The Torbay School Of Dance which is a good half an hour each way,  as a Mum of girls you would expect this to happen at some point, and she lives to dance right now and she does it all day.  

This week she took part in a competition with her musical theatre group and came first so all the hard work paid of and she was very happy.

Another trip to Dartmoor on a lovely sunny day in our Bongo "Betty" lots of rock climbing, sausages for lunch and the girls played for ages in the roof. Even managed to fit a Devon ice cream topped with a delicious topping of clotted cream.

Inspired by our trips to the beach and my left over oilcloth I came up with this bag which we've named My Big Fat Devon Beach Bag, but it would also be great for festivals, picnics or any occasion where you have to traipse lots of "stuff" about. It's lined in green and white canvas with two huge pockets and fastens with a magnetic clip.

Finished this week being featured in Folky's Weekly Picks
Http://folksy.it/1edKsD4

It's always nice to get a bit of recognition for your  mult tasking and late nights!