August

So, August has come to an end. We had some lovely weather (how very British of me) and our barbecue was stoked up once or twice… ok once, but it was good!

What have I been up to through out August? I shall tell you.

The biggest news was that this here website was launched! Hooray! I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out, I loved working on it and am enjoying the blogging process to go alongside it. We are so close to being ready to open up the subscriptions, it’s taken a little longer than originally anticipated, but then what doesn’t?

To celebrate the launch of the website I hosted a Crafternoon with a few of my friends. It was such a lovely event, and a great way of catching up with friends, I’m definitely planning to do it again soon. Of course the ultimate crafter-weekend happened at The Sewing Weekender, oh I sat and read all the blogs and vlogs about it with envy. I’m absolutely going next year.

I thought I’d done quite a lot of sewing this month, but as it turns out I don’t have a whole lot to show for my efforts. I have made a pair of dungarees out of two pairs of jeans as part of The Refashioners Challenge, but am yet to get any photos of them to show you, a blog post in waiting! I have however managed to make a Clémence skirt, an Agnes top, and some bunting which I used as a give away prize during the launch of the website. I have also been working hard on a toile (practice garment) of a dress I’m hoping to wear for my Nan’s 80th birthday later this month, I want to get it just right!

Speaking of making things, I have managed a bit of baking this month too. Have you been watching the Great British Bake Off? It’s so hard to watch if you are without cake. The best I’ve been able to rustle up so far on a Wednesday is a penguin bar! It was my hubby’s birthday at the beginning of the month and his bake of choice was chocolate brownies. I have to be totally honest here and let you know, I did cheat with these brownies (sorry mum!) and used a box mix because they’re Andy’s favourite #sorrynotsorry. I did manage to make some scrummy peanut butter and chocolate chip brownies however, recipe in The Hummingbird Bakery book.

I had a really lovely day out with my Mum and Sister back at the beginning of August, we went to The Countryfile Live show at Blenheim Palace. It was hot, there were loads of people, but look at the little piggies!!! There was so much to see there, I don’t think we even scratched the surface really. The most popular attraction seemed to be Pip, my sister’s 4 month old Boarder Collie, she got so much attention, everyone wanted to say hello. She is super cute though, so I don’t blame anyone.

My Dad and I took my 4 year old niece Phoebe to the seaside. I only live about 20 minutes away from the sea, but for some reason this was the first time I had been to the beach in well over a year. It was so lovely, we collected shells and had ice cream, what more could you want from a Tuesday?!

I also live very close to The New Forest, Hampshire’s National Park. If you haven’t every visited it is a beautiful place, and there are wild pony’s and donkey’s everywhere. It’s a great place for flying kites, which I did thanks to my Grandad!

All this fresh air and countryside must have gotten under my skin because I am now the proud owner of two, yes two, houseplants! I am notoriously bad for keeping green things alive and haven’t attempted anything more than a few, very hardy plants in the boarders of my garden. But I am determined to make this work. I see so many people living with what appears to be a jungle inside their house, and it looks amazing. But I’ll start small and work up to jungle status.

And finally, as hinted earlier in this tale I do enjoy a spot of foraging for berries and the such like. However, I’m lazy and mostly forage in my parents garden. Lets make life easy shall we? Yes, I may be no good at keeping things alive in the garden but luckily for me I don’t have to go far to enjoy some home grown produce. It starts with rhubarb, strawberries and runner beans at the beginning of the summer and we work our way through a crazy variety of berries, sweetcorn, a few apples and millions of blackberries. Hello crumbles and jam, lots and lots of jam!

If anyone has a good recipe for using rhubarb in jam, that doesn’t involve ginger, I’d love to hear it.

And that was August. It was a good month, I’m looking forward to seeing what September brings. I’ll be starting a dressmaking course in the evenings soon, and making a trip to London with Andy. Hope you had a lovely summer, what was your highlight?