The Netherlands.

OK - so I think of it as Holland, but I believe that The Netherlands is the correct name. Fortunately the Dutch as a whole are very forgiving!

Sadly there weren't any tulips to be seen (well it was August) - even at Floriade. Floriade occurs every 10 years in the Netherlands, and I have wanted to see it for a long time. We had to miss it in 2002 due to having a very small, really rather ill baby at that time (Who is now a very healthy ten year with an attitude!).

Floriade wasn't what I was expecting (I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't what Floriade turned out to be). We did however have a very good (and very warm) day there. There were quite a few "educational" sections (I now know a lot more about Dutch Elm disease for example) and some amazing swathes of planting in the Dutch prairie style. It is apparently a horticultural trade show that has grown into a public show. Once I knew that, it all made a lot more sense.

 There were a section of gardens from around the world - I particularly liked this one which had a sewing theme - yes that is a sculpture of a needle and thread. The open white gazebo in the background was meant to be a pin cushion.

There were horticultural representations of famous Dutch works of art:

If you looked closely you could see that the "sunflowers" were in fact made up of fruit and vegetables.

We had spent the previous day at the Kroller-Muller Art museum and sculpture park in the Hoge Veluwe National Park (you have no idea how hard that is to pronounce) where we had seen some real Van Goghs

 

And some Mondrian:

  Wouldn't this be interesting to interpret as textile art (embroidery or applique perhaps - I think piecing for a quilt might be too far a step!)

 My favourite was the sculpture park. Whilst there was grumpy acceptance of it by the older two children, the five year old loved it (and not just because he got to let off some steam)

There were some very intriguing items - taking the concept of camping to a new level perhaps?

 Or even caravanning.....

Towards the end there were a fantastic series of golden head sculptures of one man, all with different expressions and different horns - except for the last which had a long pointed snout! This was my favourite - it has such life to it.

We also went for a drive through the Park where we discovered a enormous great sand dune. It was very bizarre

There were acres of it - and it was bright golden yellow - my camera just couldn't capture it. It was like "Hollywood" sand - the perfect colour and texture and so didn't seem real.

Sadly we didn't have enough time left to make use of the free white bikes in the park, but maybe next time...

Oh and we did also see lots of these:

And discovered a new food addiction - Speculoos Paste......... It is Nutella for grownups (I say this to justify why I try not to let my children have any of my rapidly diminishing supply - oh and there isn't any chocolate in it, but let's not split hairs)

A return to Blogland

Well I never planned not posting for so long (again!) and have, in fact, written many a blog post in my head. However they are not much use there.

It was a busy summer! Quite a while ago now (blushes ) I was lucky enough to win the Simpatico bundle on Katy from "Monkey Do"'s blog, courtesy of The Village Habedashery.

I've stroked it, and looked at it, but haven't brought myself to cut into it (I've never had all the fabrics from a range before!) . I think though, that I may split it up. I was toying with the idea of  a Stained Quilt (courtesy of Sarah from Narcoleptic in a Cupboard) with a charcoal coloured sashing, but I think they will have more of an impact if I mix them up with other fabrics - they almost play too nicely together - does that make sense?So I am trying to force myself to split them up and store them in the stash.

The summer passed in a whirl of being at work,, buying new school uniform and school shoes (including discovering on the first day back to school that I had managed to buy my daughter exactly the same size shoes as she already had.......)

We had a fabulous week in Cornwall, where there was quite a bit of beach visiting and wave jumping

and some of this

(I took the opportunity to build my own whilst the children were occupied in exploring rock pools.)

We visited the National Maritime Museum on the one really wet day and had a fantastic time.

 There were five children in our group aged between 2 and 12 and they all found a lot to interest them. We would have spent longer, but we ran out of time on the parking tickets.

We also visited the amazing Eden project. We last visited 10 years ago when it was still fairly newly opened. I can't believe how much it has changed (the incredible heat in the tropical house, even early in the day, has not however.)

 The outside planting was absolutely stunning - I have no photos that do it justice.

Then it was home for a mad week of work, washing mountains and cleaning and repacking the caravan for a trip to Holland.......

Thank Heaven for the Olympics!

Because this is as far as my Jubilee bunting got

Good job there will be another reason for red, white and blue bunting this year.

Fat Quarterly Pouch

I finally bought Fat Quarterly 4 - the solids issue - and the first thing I have made is the pouch by Monika Wintermantel.

I should warn you  though, it doesn't look the same as Monika's at all! (The top for some reason has come out sloping as well. I need more practise. Er, a lot more practise.....)

It is however the same size and I followed the instructions closely - I just didn't put the small pieced strip in near the bottom, and did a different applique, using some liberty lawn that I have hoarded for so long it probably qualifies as vintage.

I may have caught the pouch making bug, and as it is near the end of the school year, my children's teachers may just become the unlucky recipients of my efforts. (Well there are only so many mugs you can use aren't there?)

A finish!

I have finally got some sewing done! Not quite what I planned (I had hoped to fnish sewing my Oakshott City Lights quilt blocks, from er......february) - no, Child 3 and I sewed (I use the "and" lightly - he's 5 and they had the "new" power rangers on tv..... - suffice to say a little light stuffing was as far as he got).

So meet Gulliver.

 He's from a pattern by Jodie from Ric-Rac and is rather charming (even if he is a crocodile). Please ignore the indent in his tum - it isn't there in reality - just more of my poor photography I'm afraid.

The main fabric is a flannel by Riley Blake and I am not sure I want to work with a flannel again. It may be soft and cuddley, but it frays horribly and it is the only time that I have made a toy from a woven fabric and found that the finished item is longer than the original pattern! (Bizarrely it still seems to be the same width)


Child 1 has also been sewing - involving a lot of advising and a little help - not quite finished yet, but on the home straight:

I have high hopes of him sewing on his own scout badges after this.

Jubilee!

The weather may have been unkind, but we have been getting into the spirit of the occasion.
Red , white and blue has been worn, and cakes have been made

We're in full activity swing, but given the current weather forecast am beginning to think that booking Go Ape for the end of the week might not have been such a good idea after all.....

Hmmm - Blogger is playing up - I scheduled it to post on the 6th but it didn't!

Blowing away the cobwebs...

That have gathered on this blog.

At least I have managed to remove a few around the house in the time I've not been posting. It has been busy, but not terribly exciting.

Over Easter we visited here:

(where the adverts for an exhibition made me think that Diarmuid Gavin has been an artists model. )

And here:

Despite my best intentions, we did come back with some of these:

Marvelled at the otter living in the middle of Coulommiers:

And were very excited at the sight of red squirrels on the campsite:

Sadly whilst it was bright and sunny (except when in Paris, where woolly hats and gloves were a must and the view from the Eiffel tower was disappointing) it was freeezing. Went to bed in socks and a jumper, with two extra blankets on top of the duvet, and I still woke up in the middle of the night cold!

And I came back with a copy of Marie Claire Idees

I wish that my school french wasn't from quite so long ago....

And all this rain has meant that the weeds in our garden now look like triffids and have overtaken the none-weed plants. Sadly the only dry weekend since then was so hot, our clay soil was like concrete and we fried if we went out. I'm hoping that it will stay dry (but cool) long enough to be able to send out the plant-search-and-rescue party.

Maybe I'll just stay in and knit instead.