Hand sewing

After finishing my first pair of socks and reaching a pause in my quilt I wanted to craft but wasn't sure what.

I was going to get out some hexies but couldn't decide on fabric and then as sometimes happens, I stumbled upon something by chance and my decision was made for me.
I found my Dandelion Designs wristwatch pin cushion that I'd ordered ages ago through Create and Craft.

I like to browse and see what's on Create and Craft on the telly box when it's quiet, I like when they do quilting on a Sunday morning at 8am and I follow Mandy Shaw on Twitter so I know when she's likely to do a show, as I love some of her stuff. She's usually at Festival of Quilts and I'm always tempted by her books, so when I saw that you could get the kit of the wrist pin cushion that she wears, I had to order it, even though I very rarely get sucked in by the TV selling.

The kit has all the fabric and notions you need, and more, and I found the instructions easy to follow.  I'm not the neatest stitcher but I do find it relaxing, so I got absorbed and finished it in a weekend. I'm really happy with it and hope to complete the matching tape measure that was included in the kit.

I also hope to start this baby ball kit from Makeve, that I've had for even longer, as it was intended for my youngest who has now out-grown such things! But as a simple hand sew, it shouldn't take much to finish it.

I won't be adding the face as I think it will be more of a decoration rather than a toy, I'll let you 
know how I get on. Would love to hear if you've been doing some hand sewing too!

I also need to thank my eldest for the main photo at the top, she's getting so good that she's set up her own blog: tallgreengiraffe.blogspot.com
She'd love to find some other kid bloggers, so do let her know if you know any!

Holiday Day Eight

 Last Day

As we had to be up and out early, we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at the Watch House Cafe in West Bay. The plan being to go to Bridport market later.

I tried the eggs benedict, which was fantastic and the kids had toast and jam and waffles.

The breakfast selection didn't seem as large this year, there wasn't much choice for the kids and the price had increased, so I felt that the bill left a sour note on the proceedings.

It was another hot day and we spent most of the morning pottering around the antiques market in Bridport, which I enjoyed but I didn't  like anything enough to buy it, apart from a floral pinny in a charity shop and some enamels mugs (for future camping!) at the Girls Own Store.

I was allowed to pop into Bridport Yarn, where the girls flopped onto the comfy sofa while I browsed!

The lady was very nice in there, even offering to fill up the toddlers water bottle.

I settled on some Regia sock yarn in fabulous blue shades, for my future 2nd pair of socks. I'd taken the knitting with me and while I didn't do any on the beach (I'm not sure how it's possible when you have kids!) it was great in the evenings and in the car and my second sock came on a treat.

After separating from my family who were heading back home the scenic route, we headed back to West Bay for the beach.

We spent all afternoon here, all swimming in the sea, and I tried some snorkelling as the water was so clear, it was bliss and nobody wanted to go home.

It got to tea-time before we faced the thought and packed up for the long drive home, I wasn't as sad as last year this time though, as I know we WILL be coming back!

Holiday Day Seven

Duck Race, The Cobb & Fireworks

Fridays Lifeboat Week event was the Duck Race, all week they had been selling numbers for the ducks, first duck in the race down the river wins!

So we made our way up-river to the start and crossed our fingers.

For such a simple idea it was a lot of fun with a great atmosphere as all us spectators followed them down the river, trying to spot our numbers!

Sadly we didn't win! But we carried on the walk into town to do some last minute shopping, another visit to Alice's Bear Shop and a stop off at Pasty Presto for a tasty lunch and cuppa.

Still didn't get time for the museum - next time!

Late afternoon we wandered down to The Cobb, walked along and enjoyed the sea breeze and the peaceful boats.

Then after our BBQ tea and at the request of the eldest some of us changed our minds and decided to go and watch the fireworks down at the beach, which were to end Lifeboat Week. 

I was able to try out my new 'firework' setting on my camera, with strange results (!) but the display was fantastic, lots of large colourful explosions and it was almost like marking the end of our time in Lyme Regis, so I was very glad that we made the effort to go.

Holiday Day Six

The Red Arrows

Thursday on Lifeboat Week was likely to be the busiest day in Lyme as the big attraction, The Red Arrows were due for a display, so we made sure we got a good spot on the beach and set up camp for the day, even renting a parasol and a couple of deckchairs!

I got to try out new wetsuit - which was ace, seemed to keep me nice and warm and also stop me from burning and getting heat rash while swimming. The sea was cool but you soon got used to it and it was packed with people, all of us cooling off from the hot sun.

The picture above shows Alice's Ledge, a rocky outcrop that you can only see at low tide, which is good for exploring and has a few rock pools.

We spent the whole day at the beach, enjoyed another fabulous sandwich selection from the Lyme Bay Sandwich Company, played on the beach and enjoyed ice-creams while waiting for the 5 o'clock start time.

I wasn't sure what to expect, I didn't think I'd ever seen their proper display before,just fly-pasts, but it was better than I could have imagined. With the fantastic backdrop of the sea, all that expanse of sky, it was a perfect setting and the skill and excitement of their routine was just superb. There was commentary and blips of radio contact so you could understand the precision of their moves, it was amazing.

The beach was packed with people and all up in the gardens above, it was a lovely happy atmosphere.

I found it quite hard keeping up with my little camera! So I'm glad that some of them were usable, I'll just have to come back next year to try again!

Day Five

Seaton and Beer

Wednesday was another glorious day and we decided to drive off for an explore. Not far along the coast is the pebble beach of Seaton, it looks quite bare and when we arrived in the morning it was fairly empty but it soon busied up and we soon enjoyed the slower pace compared to Lyme. The water was fantastic, really clear, good for a bit of snorkelling, and quite shallow near the edge.

We had a wander around the town, lots of good charity shops, great customer service from 'Panic Design' for hat shopping for a certain member of our party with a large head! And I even bought a wetsuit from Rainbow, marked down as I knew I would only use it hols. Lots of nice gift shops opposite the beach, I got some large wind chimes which I've put in our bedroom which makes me think of holiday every time I hear them.

There are also good clean toilets by the beach, oh and ice-cream! Seaton also has a large Tesco (with petrol station) which was handy as Lyme doesn't have anything like that.

I was hoping to get to go to their famous tramway but the prices were extortionate of all of us, it was more of a ticket to travel for a journey rather than a tourist scenic tour, which is all we wanted.

I love walking along this part of the beach, with my trusty crocs on, looking for pebbles, shells or sea glass.

With our parking ticket due to run out but still only half-way through the afternoon, we decided to drive on a little further round the coast to Beer.

Beer was a charming little village, like the Cotswolds besides the sea.

Love these deck chairs.

Pebble beach again, very clear water but the level seems to get quite deep quite quickly.

We stopped for an ice-cream and a wander before heading back for tea.