Sunday 20 October 2013

Our holiday in the Lake District

We had a good, relaxing week away in the Lake District. We stayed at Whitbarrow Village, near Penrith, where we have stayed twice before. We like the Northern Lakes, away from the crowds and dense traffic in more commercialised places, like Windemere.

Our main aim was to relax so we didn't intend going for great walks. Anyway, my knees and back don't seem to cope very well with walking over rough terrain any more. However, if you count walking the 18 holes on Keswick Golf Course, I did have at least one good walk! Yes, the Great Golfer took some clubs and a cart as part of his holiday equipment and I walked with him while he played. Thank goodness that was one of the days when we just had some misty drizzle! The scenery was lovely and I did pretty well until about the 14th hole; then the going got a bit tougher. However, I managed to make it to the 18th and then a very good lunch in the clubhouse.



We did enjoy more regular exercise with a good morning swim on five mornings. Thank goodness for 'adults only' swimming times. We both benefited from the exercise and by Friday morning my back was hardly affected.

Of course, we also indulged a bit! What's a holiday for, if not to have a treat now and then?! This was the final indulgence on our last day:


As for things 'crafty', we visited The Wool Clip in the village of Caldbeck. This is a co-operative of fifteen crafty people who spin, weave, knit, felt and make all sorts of wonderful things out of wool. It's not my area of interest and skill but it is always good to admire the work put into top-class crafts. To satisfy my inner craft self, I kept my hands busy with crocheting more squares for another little blanket and then visited a yummy fabric shop in Penrith, called Just Sew. What a feast for the eyes! Even the GG was attracted to the lovely fabrics, suggesting possible pieces for eye-catching bags! I managed to avoid impulse buying and only bought what I needed for some Christmas orders. Oh, the self-discipline!

On the day with the best weather all week, we drove to Ullswater Lake and soaked in the beauty and the peace and tranquillity of the surroundings. I really felt revived after sitting looking at the lake and the mountains.


Now we have more memories and more photographs so that we can say, 'Yes, we did enjoy our break away.' Tomorrow I'll be back in my sewing room!

Friday 11 October 2013

Using my stash.

Why is it that I seem to run out of essential materials when I want to get on with a project?? I have such lovely fabric to make bags but have run out of the Thermolan interfacing I usually use as well as fusible fleece. We are taking a short break next week (going to the Lake District!) and I didn't want to order more and then not be here when it comes in the post. So I decided to use my time profitably (I hope it will make a profit!!) and use what I had in my stash to make some pencil cases for a Craft Fair on 10 November. For once, I had outer fabric, lining fabric and matching zips to make what I wanted - five pencil cases. I even found reasonably suitable charms to use a zip pulls. Here are the finished products:


Last week I made my granddaughter's present for her 8th birthday. She loves her ballet so I made her some ballet dancer bunting and a drawstring bag for her ballet shoes. I might have to explain about the bunting as my sister tells me that it isn't trendy in South Africa - yet. It certainly is trendy here as I seem to be making quite a bit of it!



The next bunting I make will be Advent bunting, which will double up as Christmas bunting. I got the idea from Craftseller Magazine but will not follow their instructions.

Still using my stash, I am going to make two knitting needle cases using some rather pretty tea towels that I bought a long time ago. This is another idea I found in a magazine.

The other step I have taken is that I have set up a page for MBags on facebook. I have hesitated about doing this but it seems to look OK and I've had very nice feedback from my friends (and family). I suppose the next thing I'll have to think about is a website for selling my bags. The thought of that makes me rather nervous, though.

All this will happen when we return from our little holiday. We are so looking forward to it!